Barbara's Blog - Good Credit Is Just As Important After You Buy A Home

Ok, so you worked hard and kept a tight grip on your credit so you could close on your dream house. Now that you have, you feel you can loosen that hold some. You got your major purchase so you can let some things slide so you can use that money to redecorate right? Wrong!  There are other ways letting your credit slip can impact you.

It may be too early to think about REFINANCING think about it, you’ve purchased your home at a decent rate but after you’ve been in your home for a few months, you see that interest rates have dropped and you want to get an even better rate to lower your monthly payments. You’ve let your credit slip a little but you don’t think you let it slip too much, you apply for a refinance only to find out that because your credit isn’t where it was when you closed, you don’t qualify for the better rate.

This same slip can affect other accounts that use your credit score for APPLICATION APPROVAL such as car loans, cable and cell phone bills.

"Cell phone companies run a credit check on you every time you sign up for a new contract," said CNN Money. "The rationale is simple: Wireless companies want to make sure you'll pay your bill. The company "has revealed that 50% of its customers don't qualify for its top promotions."

These companies as well as other services such as your electric bill or cable bill will probably still give you service, but at a much higher cost than if you had better credit.

What a lot of home owners discover that they are flooded with new CREDIT CARD offers after they close on a house. The rationale with this is that these companies think you have really good credit since you were able to buy a house.

Now, if you already have credit cards, this is not an issue – throw the new offers away!  But if you do not have any credit cards or think the new offers are just too good to pass up, be aware that any change in your credit from the day of your closing will affect these offers.

Basically, you worked really hard to get your credit in great shape to purchase your dream home, don’t let all that hard work go to waste after you’re in your new home.  It is just as important to stay in good financial shape after you close.