Your Cedit Report
Unless you have cash... You need your duckies in a row
Your credit is very important!
As part of the investigation of your financial strength, a mortgage lender will want to see your 'Credit Report'. The credit report is a detailed record of your credit history. There are three credit reporting agencies; Experian, TransUnion® and Equifax. All three work independently using the same information. All information is processed and used to establish your 'Credit Score'. Your credit score will be different with each company. Normally they are quite close. Be sure to read our advice about what not to do with your credit when getting ready to buy a house on the Buyers page
Personal information will be on the credit report. Your name, current and previous addresses, your current and previous employers, all loans taken out (even if they have been paid off), credit card balances, and other miscellaneous debt the you may have had. Each account will show loan balances, credit limit, original loan amount, date established, type of account, and any delinquent payments. The credit report will also show how many inquiries into your credit you have had. These occur when you apply for credit, whether a car loan, credit card, home mortgage, etc.
In the end, you will have a credit score. Here are the range of scores:
Credit score of 700 - 850 very good/excellent
Credit score of 640-700 Average to OK
Credit score of 300 to 640 Low/poor score
Know your credit score
Finding out what your credit score is at is a very easy process if you do not know how. Several companies offer deals for getting reports from all 3 agencies in a 3-IN 1 Credit Report. Just be warned that they will sign you up for a trial membership that can be cancelled. But if you do not cancel, you will wind up being billed from $14.95 to $39.95 a month depending on which service you use.
Now to be fair, if you are interested in monitoring your credit on a regular basis, these services are extrmely helpful. Just be sure to shop around a little and compare services and pricing before you signup. Some companies include services that the others will charge extra for. A big plus is that some even offer protection from identify theft. As we said, shop around, it could save you some money in the end.
Here are a couple of sites that you may want to check out. As with everything.... be sure to read the fine print before signing up.