Are you a first-time home buyer wondering how to improve your credit score? If you need a mortgage, a good credit score, also called a FICO score, is essential—and it’s within your control.
In a nutshell, a credit score is a simplified calculation of your history of paying back debts and making regular payments on loans. If you’re borrowing money to buy a home, lenders want to know you’ll pay them back in a timely manner, and a credit score is an easy estimate of those odds.
Here’s your crash course on this all-important little number, and how to whip it into the best home-buying shape possible.
