I was reading a article about  a woman who was turned down from buying a home because she did not have enough credit.

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/112152/dangers-of-avoiding-credit?mod=series-m-article-c

Her credit score was 750.  Yet she only had one credit card.  She was denied her initial loan.

Many lenders want you to have at least three open and active accounts when you are getting ready to purchase a home.

This shows that you are responsible for carrying credit and paying your bills on time.

When you have had bad credit.

You may need to use your utlility bills as a means for a line of credit.

That means you need to have paid the bills on time for at least twelve months.

This article states when home buying that you need to have a down payment.  I totally agree.   Before you go shopping for your home you should already have started saving for your down payment.  The days of no money down are gone.  You need between 10 and 20% down payment for a new home.

The article also talks about becoming an authorized user on one of your parents credit card accounts in order to build your credit history.  When you request to become an authorized user you must make sure that the company will put the account on your credit report.  If they will not do that for you need to go to another creditor.  When the account will not show on your credit report it does you no good.

The last point of the article that I don't agree with regards college students getting credit cards while they are in school to start building their credit history.  I think that the part Credit Card Act not allowing students to get credit cards is a good idea.  Many students in the past would be granted credit with no job to be able to pay the bills off.  Many of these students would end up with collections and bad credit once they entered into the workforce. 

Now for some students their parents may pay the bill for them.  However this still does not teach the student to be responsible for the debt that they incur.

In the end there are a few things that you need to know before you start buying a home.

1. Know your credit score.

2. Use your new credit responsibly.

3. Only charge on your credit cards what you can pay off each month.

4. Make sure that you at least have three lines of open active credit.  With at least 12 months history of payments. 

5. Before you start shopping for a new home start saving the 10-20% down payment that you need.

6. Talk to your bank or credit union before you start shopping for rates.

Do you have enough credit???

To get a copy of my new book click www.sexliesandcredit.com.

Miss Rene'