Buying a Home With Less-Than-Perfect Credit

You don’t need perfect credit to buy a home.

But if your credit has a few bumps, it helps to understand what a mortgage lender is actually looking at before you start trying to “fix” everything yourself.

In this workshop, we’ll discuss the different parts of your credit profile that can affect a mortgage decision, including your credit scores, payment history, account balances, recent credit activity, collections, and major past credit events.

We’ll also talk about an important distinction many buyers don’t realize: the credit score you see through a consumer app may not be the same score a mortgage lender uses.

You’ll learn some practical ways to prepare your credit before applying, along with actions that may do more harm than good — such as closing accounts, opening new credit, disputing accounts, or paying collections without first understanding how the change may affect your mortgage plans.

The goal isn’t to help you chase a “perfect” score. It’s to help you understand your credit well enough to make smart decisions about what matters, what may not matter, and when to get a lender involved.