Preparing for your Credit Check

Preparing for your Credit Check

If you are applying for a home loan or another large purchase, your lender will perform a credit check to determine your financial picture. The status of your credit report will determine how much money you can borrow and at what interest rate. Before you apply for a loan, it may be helpful to do a personal credit check to get a handle on how you appear to lenders.

If you haven’t gotten a free credit check from the government yet, you are entitled to one per year. With the government program, you can get one free credit report from each of the major credit reporting agencies. Although these credit reports will not have a FICO score on them, they will show all of your pertinent credit information. This way you can look for errors in information that might damage your creditworthiness.

You can also obtain credit reports from the three major reporting agencies for a small fee. The 3 reports together will cost you less than $40. If you are applying for a major loan, it is well worth the cost to take a look at your own credit report. You can normally obtain these reports online, or you can have a hardcopy mailed to your address.

Your credit report will show a listing of all of your credit cards, loans and any other pertinent financial information. If you notice there are errors on your credit report, you should take steps to correct them. Doing a personal credit check and possible repair before you apply for a loan can save you money and time.

You can get your first credit report here for FREE!/a>