If you want to get a home loan, your credit score is extremely important. The average person has over $15,000 in debt and it's getting harder to qualify for a mortgage because of this.

There are several steps that you can take to improve your credit score. This post will cover the basics on how to do just that so that you can be ready when the time comes for applying for your dream home loan.

1. One of the best ways to improve your credit score is by avoiding any late payments. Missing a payment can hurt your credit score, which can impact your ability to get a loan, rent an apartment or even get a job. 
2. If you have high credit utilization it can make a negative impact on your credit score. You may not realize it, but the amount of money you owe is one of the most important factors that go into determining your credit score. And if you're maxed out on all your cards and loans, then this will negatively affect your overall credit rating. Try to pay off most if not all of your debt when payment is due.

       3. If you're carrying too much credit card debt, your finances and your credit score are probably suffering. There are many ways to get out of debt faster. You can try negotiating with the company that holds your credit card debt or use a balance transfer credit card or peer-to-peer loan to pay off the rest of it more quickly. A balance transfer is a great option for paying down high interest rate cards. With this strategy, you apply for one new low interest rate (or zero percent) credit card and move all of your existing balances over from other cards onto it. This lets you consolidate all of your payments into one place while saving money on interest fees in the process.

       4.1 in 5 people had errors in at least one of their credit reports. This can be anything from reporting late payments that weren’t late to including fraudulent accounts in the report, which all can impact your credit score negatively. That’s why it’s important to regularly check your credit reports. You can request one free report a year from each of the credit bureaus through annualcreditreport.com. Even more important, if you find anything that is inaccurate or fraudulent, dispute it immediately.

If you’re looking for a short-term, quick fix to your credit score, the above recommendations are some things you can do. You might be able to get an instant boost by correcting errors on your reports or paying off any outstanding balances. But if the goal is long term good credit, don’t focus solely on these activities. Building and maintaining good credit takes time and effort that will need to continue over decades of your life. Achieving this goal may mean making sacrifices in other areas of your finances or lifestyle now so that later when it comes time for retirement you have all the money saved up that you deserve!