Improve Your Credit Score Before a Mortgage
Published on August 28, 2026 • Read Time: 6 min read
Why Your Credit Profile Matters When You Apply
When you apply for a mortgage, a lender reviews your credit reports and score as one part of a broader picture that also includes your income, assets, existing debt, and the property itself. Credit history helps a lender understand how you’ve managed borrowed money in the past. It’s one input among several — not the only one — and requirements vary by loan program and lender.
Step 1: Request Your Free Credit Reports
AnnualCreditReport.com is the only website authorized under federal law to provide the free credit reports guaranteed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion currently offer free weekly access on a permanent basis. Reviewing all three reports — not just one — matters, because lenders may pull from any of them and the reports don’t always match.
Step 2: Review Your Reports for Errors
Read each report line by line. Look for accounts that aren’t yours, incorrect balances, late payments that were actually on time, or accounts that should have aged off. If you find an error, you have the right to dispute it directly with the credit bureau and with the company that reported it. Correcting inaccurate information is different from “credit repair” — it’s a right you already have under federal law, and it costs nothing to exercise yourself.
What Generally Shapes a Credit Score
Scoring models vary, but the factors they weigh are broadly consistent:
- Payment history — whether accounts have been paid on time.
- Amounts owed — how much of your available revolving credit you’re using.
- Length of credit history — how long your accounts have been open.
- New credit — how recently and how often you’ve opened new accounts.
- Credit mix — the variety of account types you manage.
No two scoring models weigh these identically, and no one factor guarantees a particular outcome.
Habits That May Help Over Time
None of the following guarantees a specific increase or a specific timeline — credit scores change gradually as new information is reported. Habits consumer regulators commonly point to include:
- Paying at least the minimum on every account, on time, every month — automatic payments or reminders can help.
- Keeping revolving balances low relative to your available credit.
- Leaving older accounts open rather than closing them, when it doesn’t create other costs.
- Applying for new credit sparingly in the months before you plan to apply for a mortgage.
What to Avoid in the Months Before You Apply
- Opening new credit cards or loans, including “buy now, pay later” plans.
- Making large purchases on credit, even if you plan to pay them off quickly.
- Closing paid-off accounts.
- Co-signing a loan for someone else.
- Missing or making a late payment on any existing account.
A lender typically re-checks credit close to closing, so changes during the application process can affect your file.
How Credit Fits Into Mortgage Qualification
Minimum credit-score guidelines differ by loan type — for example, conventional, FHA, VA, and USDA loans each follow different agency or investor guidelines, and individual lenders may apply their own additional overlays. There is no single number that applies to every borrower or every program. Credit is evaluated together with your debt-to-income ratio, down payment, and other factors. See our loan program overview for a summary of common program types, and use the home affordability calculator to explore how income and debt may relate to a comfortable budget.
If You Need Help Beyond a Website Article
Lock It Lending does not provide personalized credit-repair services, and nothing in this article is individualized advice for your situation. If you’d like independent, often free or low-cost guidance:
- Find a HUD-approved housing counselor — HUD-approved counselors can discuss buying a home, credit, and budgeting at little or no cost.
- CFPB’s housing counselor search tool is another way to find one near you.
- Be cautious of any company that guarantees a specific score increase for an upfront fee — the FTC has long warned that no one can legally remove accurate, timely negative information from your credit report.
When you’re ready to talk through your specific situation, a Lock It Lending loan officer can walk through program options with you — this article is a starting point, not a substitute for that conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a minimum credit score to buy a home?
It depends on the loan program and the lender. There’s no single number that applies everywhere — a loan officer can review your options based on your full financial picture.
Will checking my own credit hurt my score?
No. Checking your own reports or score is a “soft inquiry” and does not affect your score.
How quickly can my score change?
Credit scores update as new information is reported to the bureaus, which can take time. There’s no guaranteed or fixed timeline.
Sources
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Credit Reports and Scores
- CFPB — Understand Your Credit Score
- CFPB — How to Rebuild Your Credit
- CFPB — Find a Housing Counselor
- Federal Trade Commission — Free Credit Reports
- AnnualCreditReport.com — the only federally authorized source for free credit reports
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — Find a Housing Counselor
Next Steps
Explore loan program options, estimate your budget with the affordability calculator, or check today’s rates to see current options through our rate tool.