Have you ever considered what a lender thinks when he or she reviews a credit report in relation to approving or denying a mortgage application? Well, the most common answers would be: What is their credit score? How is their credit history? What is their income? What is their debt to income ratio? Will they be providing a substantial down payment?

When attempting to purchase a home, a large down payment may minimize the negative outcome of a poor credit history. This large down payment, however, will not guarantee a good interest rate or lower fees. In addition, the minimum score required to purchase a home has increased over the past 12-18 months.

There is no way around having a low credit score. Even with a large down payment you will still need a good credit score to make home ownership a reality. Your goal should be a 758 average credit score to qualify for the lowest interest rates, according to CNN.com.

How to Obtain the Minimum Credit Score for a Mortgage

It is helpful and easy to request a copy of your credit report and read it over for negative entries. Mistakes and errors are often found on credit reports and this information can be disputed.

A dispute letter to the relevant credit bureaus would be a good start. Alternatively, to resolve the negative entry, you will need to contact the creditor directly.

Often, an expertly worded dispute letter will resolve the inconsistency. Although, it has been shown that investigation methods are often sloppy and error prone.

While investigating your claim, credit bureaus must spend time and man hours to resolve the dispute. Taking their time or ignoring the dispute is more to the liking of many credit bureaus. They hope you will throw in the towel and give up!

Will it Take Long to Boost My Credit Score?

Many people want to know how long it will be before they can see a difference in their credit score. In most cases, a fair estimate would be 6-12 months.

This is a long time but it certainly beats 7-10 years for the negative information to be dropped. It is beneficial to wait 6-12 months to raise a low score, especially when purchasing a home.

Discover how I raised my credit score from 582 to 745 in four months with the help of Lexington Law. Learn the truth about quickly and effectively deleting bad credit at www.creditforcouples.com.