If you are buying a home, one of the most critical things is your credit score. 
Most first-time home buyers will find that an FHA loan is the best Home Loan program for buying their first home. FHA loans generally allow the lowest credit scores, however, most lenders will require a home buyer to have a 640 credit score or better.
One of the first things you need to do if you’re thinking about buying a home is to find out what your credit score is. You can see your credit report for free at www.annualcreditreport.com. Their reports consists of history only and does not supply the actual credit score which is what most people and lenders are interested in obtaining.
If you have greater than the 640 credit score when you check your credit, you will not need to have your credit pulled again. That credit report will be good for 90 days and if you don’t apply for any other new credit after that, you can be assured that your credit score will be good enough for you to buy your first home.
If you have less than a 640 credit score, there are some simple things you can do to improve your credit score. 
Late payments are usually the biggest cause for lower credit scores.
For credit scoring, a late payment is not considered late until after it is over 30 days late. Once your credit report shows a late payment it will impact your credit report for about a year or so. Late payments will stay on your credit report for seven years, but after a while, they have little impact on your score. Your most recent credit activity has the biggest impact on your credit scores. So, avoid any late payments at all costs if you are thinking about buying a new home.
High Credit Card Balances
The second biggest problem is credit card balances that are near the credit card limits. So, keeping your credit balances low compared to the limit that you can borrow on a card is one good way to keep your credit scores high.
In fact, we have helped clients increase their credit score by 30 to 50 points in as little as 30 days by simply instructing them to pay a credit card down from its high balance to a lower amount.
For best credit scores, keep your credit card balance below 20% of the maximum limit. If the credit card balance gets about 50% of the maximum limit your score will start to drop as result.
Sometimes, you will find if there is a mistake on your credit report.
If you find a mistake on your credit report, you need to get something in writing from the company that reported the error so that you can send that information into the credit bureau and get your credit report corrected. There are also companies that specialize in credit repair. They can’t do any magic or fix things that are legitimately on your credit report, but if there is a mistake they can make them go away quickly and help you improve your score.
Buying a New Home? Look at your Credit Report before you look at houses.
One of the first thing you want to do if you are a considering buying a home is to have a mortgage lender run your credit and give you a copy of your credit report.
Review this credit report with a loan officer so you can see if you are ready to buy now or, if there are things you need to do to improve your credit.
*Excerpts taken from original article written and published by Fairway Independent Mortgage.
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