Credit score not where it needs to be to secure a new home mortgage? Don’t fret. There are a few techniques you can use to raise it! A good credit score is important when buying a home to get a better mortgage rate. Better mortgage rates mean you’ll pay less in interest over the life of your loan – saving thousands.

Here are some tips to help with boosting your credit score to get that better rate:

• First, reduce your debt – pay it down to improve your score. Make consistent payments on all of your debt including both loans and credit cards. 
• Never max out your credit card, and only charge what you can pay off each month if possible.
• Next, check your credit report with all three credit bureaus and look for errors that need correcting. Dispute these and work on fixing anything that is not correct.
• Try to keep your debt to income ratio below 43% – this means your monthly expenses shouldn’t total more than 43% of your monthly income. 
• Get rid of unnecessary expenses.

The most important thing you’re trying to do is demonstrate solid payment history. This is key to boosting your credit score. You can start small: take a small loan from your bank, put it in savings and use that to pay the loan back over a year to demonstrate payment history. Then, use this list of tips and you’ll see a change in your score over time.