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If you’re in the market to purchase a home, you’ll need to double check your finances first.

Having a good credit score will prove your creditworthiness to potential lenders – and if you want the best deal, a strong credit score is best.

But what if you fall below a “good” credit score?

Luckily, there are ways to bring it back up, and there are ways to possibly improve it within one to two months – check out our tips below!

What is a “Good” Score?

First, you’ll need to understand what a good credit score looks like to a lender.

Perfect Credit Score: 850

Excellent Credit Score: 760-849

Good Credit Score: 700 to 759

Fair Score: 650 to 699

Low Score: 649 and below

Lenders will generally look for a score of 660 or higher before they consider a mortgage loan.

Fix Errors

You can request a free credit report once a year from TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian through this website.

Review your credit report for any errors – if there is an error on one of your accounts, you’ll need to refute the error with the bureau by providing documentation. Credit bureaus usually have 30 days to investigate the error.

Credit Utilization Ratio

This ratio refers to how much you owe compared with the amount of available credit you have. If you have a $10,000 credit limit on your credit card, and you have a balance of $9,000 –, you’ve utilized 90% of your credit, which drags down your score.

Unfortunately, this ratio represents 30% of your credit score, so tackling what you owe is a major step in improving your score.

It might be a good idea to set an alarm on your calendar a day or two before your next credit card bill is due – because building up a perfect payment history will need to start sooner rather than later.

Want more real estate tips and tricks? Check out AmeriTitle’s Blog here.