In today's market, lenders are very careful with who they give money to for a new home purchase.  You definitely cannot blame them.  The most important thing a potential home buyer needs to do before even thinking about applying for a mortgage is to check their credit report.  Credit reporting agencies make mistakes everyday that can affect your credit rating negatively.  Checking your credit report will reduce any surprises when applying for a mortgage.  Not only could a low credit rating get you denied, it could get you a higher interest rate if approved.  It is tough to get approved for a mortgage these days even if you have a decent credit rating.  Lenders want borrowers who have a credit rating of 700 or higher on a 300 to 850 scale.  If you find one or two errors and get just one of the three major credit bureaus to correct it, it could make a huge difference in your credit score. 

As a general practice, you should be checking your reports once a year whether or not you are planning on making a major purchase or not.  Never trust anyone else to scour through your reports.  A few hours of your time will save you alot of hassle in the future.  The government has made it alot easier to get our hands on our credit reports by providing a website, AnnualCreditReport.com, that will let you order your reports for free.  You need to go through all three credit reports from Equifax, Experian, TransUnion as one could show a mistake where the other two will not. 

Credit bureaus are required by law to investigate all claims and fix any errors.  They also have to inform you of the outcome within 30 days.  It is a tedious process, but once you become familiar with the reports it really isn't too painful of a process!

For more information, please contact me at info@buytampafl.com

Looking for a new home?  Go to www.buytampafl.com for a list of all available homes in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area.