FICO Scores were developed by Fairlsaac Corporation. Fairlsaac is a leader in the credit-management arena. Their development has become an industry standard for determining an individual's credit worthiness. The score is determined by payment history, credit history, which includes how many credit inquires have been made on you over a period of time, how much credit you have actually used and what kind of credit you are using.

The score grades your history. It provides a snapshot of how you make your payments. If you make your payments timely, you will have a low credit risk score. The FICO score shows on credit reports. If you score is lower than 500, you pay a premium to obtain a mortgage. If your score is above 700, you can obtain better interest rates.

Ways to increase your score are:

1. Pay your bills on time. Late payments reflect negatively on your score.

2. Pay your medical bills. If you account is turned over to a collection agency, this will have a negative impact on your score.

3. Pay your school loans. In addition to reflecting negatively on your score, the government will find you and force you to pay this obligation.

4. Since the number of inquires impacts your score, less is better. The assumption is that more inquires indicate you have been turned down for credit.

You can obtain your credit report yearly from each of the three major credit reporting agencies. Federal law makes this possible. The report will lay out your credit history for you to review. Correct all errors. When you find an error, notify the creditor and all three reporting agencies. The credit must send a letter for the mistake to be rectified. You need to stay on top of this process. Finding adverse credit issues when you actually need to obtain credit will hinder your ability to obtain financing.

Mortgage lenders look for at least three open credit accounts older than a year. Maintaining long term accounts will help you immensely. Pay your bills on time. Pay high credit card debt and pay off interest loans first. Don't use your credit card to its limit.

You can seek a pre-qualified loan for a mortgage before you seek housing. This process is usually verbal and often free of charge. Once you have a pre-approved mortgage, you can complete and application easily. This is a legal loan agreement which should expedite the closing on your home. Of the twopre-approval and pre-qualified, the best is pre-approved. This approval gives you an idea of your buying power and determines what you can actually afford.

Your Real Estate agent can guide you in the right direction to start your process of applying for loans.