• Stability – Length of time on the job and the number of
  jobs held.
  
  
  
  


• Liquidity – Availability of down payment and other on-hand
  and reserve funds necessary to close the loan.
  
  
  
  


• Credit – Previous loan repayment history as well as certain
  credit-related scores.
  
  
  
  


• Income – Ability to service the loan by making the
  required payments.
  
  
  
  


• Liabilities – The total amount of money that you owe other
  than your current mortgage or rent payments.

1. Get a copy of your credit report and review it for errors.
   Use the credit bureaus error reporting and correction system to address
   any serious errors.
   
   
   
   


2. Pay all of your bills according to the payment schedule
   that you agreed to.
   
   
   
   


3. Avoid opening a lot of new accounts in a short period of
   time and especially avoid opening any new accounts before applying for a
   mortgage.
   
   
   
   


4. Don't apply for credit cards that you have no intention of
   using, and close any accounts that have zero balances and that you do not
   intent to use again.
   
   
   
   


5. Keep your credit balance low in ratio to your overall available
   credit.
   
   
   
   


6. Pay off credit card bills instead of transferring them to
   lower interest cards and closing the previous account. It could actually
   hurt your score by disturbing the ratio of open debt to number of cards.
   
   
   
   


7. Monitor your FICO score by getting a new copy of your
   report every six months. Once your score moves into an acceptable range
   then either refinance your existing mortgage, if interest rates warrant,
   or apply for a mortgage if you have been turned down in the past.

About the Author

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