Your credit rating affects all aspects of your financial activities when it comes to borrowing money. Your credit rating also has the ability to affect the job you get, the apartment you rent, and even the ability to open a bank account.

Do you know your credit scores and are you on top of them?
Having better credit can be the deciding factor of getting a mortgage or not, the size of mortgage you can get, and changing the down payment needed!
Some things that could possibly help improve your credit:
-Accept credit limit increases
-Use below 30% of your maximum credit available
-Keep credit accounts open even if not being used
-Pay off your bills on time
-Clear any bad debt (ex. old cellphone bills)
-Have a second credit card that is always being paid off if you need to hold a balance on your main card
Having low credit doesn’t always mean you can’t get a mortgage but it may hold you back at times! A score over 680 looks great on a mortgage application.

Your credit report itself is simply a listing of all of your mortgage and consumer debt. Here in Canada, the two main credit reporting agencies are Trans Union and Equifax. Both agencies have a credit history file on anyone who has ever borrowed money. Every time you borrow money, or make a payment on a loan or credit card, the lender then reports the information about the transaction to these two agencies. In addition to credit information, you will also find liens and judgments on your credit report as well as your address and possibly your work history. The accumulation of all of this information is called your credit report.

The information on your credit report varies based on your creditors and what they have reported about you. Potential lenders and others, such as employers, view your credit history as a reflection of your character. Whether we like it or not, our financial habits have a lot to say about the way in which we choose to live our lives.

The credit score, or beacon score, is a number which gives mortgage lenders an idea of your lending risk. Credit scores range from 300 to 900, the higher your credit score the better. The mortgage products and interest rate that you will qualify for are often determined by your credit score.

One thing that many people do not know is that you have the legal right to obtain a copy of your credit report. A mortgage professional can help you obtain a copy of this report and go through it with you to verify that all of the information is true and correct.

The good news is that your credit report is a working document. This means that you have the ability over time, to repair any damaged credit and increase your credit score.