Problems arise when your score falls below approximately 650. If your score runs beneath that number, you should expend determined effort to clean up your report and raise your score. This would include eliminating any inaccuracies on your reports, as mentioned, but also includes paying off whatever outstanding debts you can and making certain that you make your monthly payments on time. A year's worth of on-time payments will raise your score and show a mortgage lender that you are responsible. Lenders will look at

Explain things to a lender in writing Provide the lender, in writing, the reason for your poor credit score. Explain your situation if a certain credit card bill was never forwarded to your new address, or if a postal employee was stealing the neighborhood mail. Explain late payments due to a job layoff. Even when a lender's computer kicks you out of the system, a human being will take a second look at your loan application to see if there is any way to make things work. Some lenders are more sympathetic and flexible than others. You may have to shop around a bit to find them. Find a good mortgage broker Mortgage brokers provide a valuable service. They know which lenders will work fairly with people who have had credit challenges. A mortgage broker "shops" for the best lender for your unique situation and can end up saving you a substantial amount of money. The seller-financed loan Sometimes buying a home from the homeowner is the best bet. This person might not check your credit, and could be more flexible about how the home is purchased. Sometimes a homeowner is as eager to sell as you are to buy, and creative methods can be set up to suit both of you. The seller can carry the loan, for example. A "wraparound" mortgage might be an option. That happens when the seller still owes money on the home and you take over the mortgage payment, plus an additional amount that covers the balance. Wraparounds are not legal in all states. Mortgage pre-approval You can get pre-approved for a home loan before you ever look at a single house. First, get your credit report as clean as it can be, pay off as many outstanding debts as you can and raise your credit score as much as possible. Then go to a mortgage lender or broker and get yourself a pre-approval certificate. In this case, a mere "pre-qualifying" letter is not the same thing. You need to have the lender actually pull your credit report and pre-approve you as would be done if you had already picked out a home. The lease-to-purchase option If you already rent the home you would like to buy, and the homeowner agrees to sell it to you, a portion of your rent will go toward your down payment. At a certain agreed-upon date, you will have accumulated some equity. Never forget that if you embark upon this option and for some reason it does not work out, the money you have spent will not be returned. Borrow the sum you need from your relatives, friends, 401K or IRA Though this should probably be a last resort, it is an option for many people. Additionally, the Roth IRA has a special provision just for this purpose. With the Roth, you are allowed to withdraw up to $10,000 in order to buy a first home. If you do borrow money, you need to disclose this information to the lender. If the money provided was a gift and does not need to be paid back, provide proof of this in writing. Warnings When you apply for a home loan and everything has worked out, be careful not to mess things up. Do not go out and finance a car, for instance, while you are waiting for your home purchase to close. It could throw off your credit ratio and ruin the entire loan process. To be safe, try not to charge anything or apply for any other loans during this sensitive period. You could end up losing your earnest money on top of losing the home you want to buy.  Put in the work to clean up your credit reports and hang in there. Owning a home is a dream worth Achieving.