Three Ways to Avoid Further Damage to Your Credit Report

When you have poor credit, the list of lenders that will approve you for a Florida home loan can shrink down very small. In order to qualify for the absolute lowest Florida mortgage rates, you want to make sure that you are doing everything in your power to keep that credit rating as high as you can. There’s a direct correlation!

Many people will unknowingly hurt their chances of getting approved and therefore make it more difficult for themselves. Generally, the basic advice is to not spend more than you can afford. Simple, right? You’d be surprised. We’ll spell it out in even more detail. Here are a couple of things you will want to avoid more debt and damage to your credit if your score is already bad.

1. Opening more and more accounts. If a Florida mortgage lender sees you have a lot of new accounts open, it can make them wary to want to lend a large sum of money out to you. Not to mention the fact that it can bump up your debt to income ratio, which makes it more difficult to get approved for the amount you’re looking for in many cases.

2. Don’t have your credit pulled over and over. This one is a common mistake you never see coming. Many people, because of the difficulty of getting approved, apply with one Florida mortgage broker and/or lender after another and have their credit score pulled over and over again. Every time your credit is pulled, your score drops just a few points.

Seem fair? It’s not. But it’s also unavoidable. In some situations, it can be enough to disqualify you from decent rates on — or any eligibility for — Florida mortgage loans altogether. The best way to go is to apply with companies online that will give you a pre-approval without pulling your credit. Instead, they will ask you what your credit is like.

Once you’ve settled on a good arrangement, they will pull it to confirm — and you’ve avoided having six other people do the same.

3. Don’t miss current payments. Some people feel that since their credit score is already poor, it doesn’t make any difference whether or not they make their payments on time with their current home loan. That is not the case whatsoever. In fact, your credit score improves a little, everytime you make your monthly payments on time. Showing a pattern of improved credit, however small, can be hugely important! Get on the right track!