Mortgage lenders closely scrutinize your financial history to determine whether to approve your loan application.
 Of primary concern are:
- Your credit report, which details your payment history on all loans, bankruptcy filings and other financial information.
- Your credit score, which uses your credit report to arrive at a numerical representation of your overall creditworthiness.
Credit scores (sometimes called FICO scores after Fair Isaac & Co., the firm that created the most commonly used form) range from the 300s to about 900, with most home buyers falling in 600s and 700s. Bankrate and FICO offer a free way to approximate your credit score via the "FICO Score Estimator."
Factors used to determine your credit score include:
- Past delinquency: Those who have failed to make payments in the past tend to do so in the future. The more recent a delinquency, the more it counts against you; a 30-day delinquency within the past 12 months hinders your chances of getting favorable mortgage terms.
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