Many prospective home buyers call me regarding my listings and it makes me so sad when they tell me that they want to buy a home but they have a low credit score. I tell them that most lenders require at least a 620 credit score to provide FHA financing, so they will have to get their credit score up if they want to become a homeowner. Since I say this several times a day, I decided to write this post to let everyone know How to Repair Your Credit and Get a Better Credit Score in 2013. You don't have to pay a service to repair your credit, you do it yourself with some time and focus.
The first thing you must do to start your credit repair is assess your situation by ordering your credit report from all three credit reporting agencies. You can do this for free in Georgia by going to AnnualReport.com. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) states that "AnnualCreditReport.com is the ONLY authorized source for the free annual credit report that's yours by law. The Fair Credit Reporting Act guarantees you access to your credit report for free from each of the three nationwide credit reporting companies — Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion — every 12 months." This means that once a year, you can order your credit reports from each of one of these companies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) for absolutely FREE though AnnualCreditReport.com. Just go to the site, enter your state and follow the directions. After you have done ordered all three for the first year, you might want to spread your credit reports out every four months for the next year (example: order Experian in January, order Equifax in May and order TransUnion in December). This way, you can see what your credit is doing all throughout the year.
After you have received your credit reports, sit down in a quiet place and look them over carefully. Look for any errors in your credit reports like accounts that still show a balance when they should be paid in full. If you have small items like old utility bills or small medical bills, call the creditor and ask if they will remove the item from your credit report if you pay them. Even if they say no, still PAY THEM!! The item might not get removed, but it will show paid in full which is important to improving your credit score. If you have larger items like a car repossession or a large medical bill, call that creditor and try to arrange a settlement or a repayment plan. Make sure that you get this arrangement in writing and have them agree to report these payments to your credit report.
The next thing that you can do to help you to improve your credit score is open a secured credit card. The benefit to opening a secured credit card is that this new credit card will report to the credit reporting agencies and help you to establish yourself as a good candidate for new credit because you will pay this card ON TIME! Check out some options for a secured credit card from some sites like www.firstpremier.com, www.orchardbank.com and www.premierplatinumcards.com. Even Bank of America has a secured credit card.
Raising your credit score is going to require that you make a lifestyle change. You will have to settle old debts and curb spending. Sometimes lower credit scores are the result of something that happened that was out of your control like a job layoff or a medical bill. You can recover; just keep working on paying off bills and stay focused on the ultimate prize: Becoming a Homeowner! Remember that a good credit score opens doors for you to have lower interest rates and keep more money in your pocket. Try following the plan above and you will be able to Repair Your Credit and Get a Better Credit Score. 
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