What Lenders Generally Look At
Lenders look at your credit report and score as part of the picture. In general terms, five things carry weight:
- Payment history — whether bills have been paid on time.
- Amounts owed — how much you owe, and how much of your available credit you are using.
- Length of history — how long your accounts have been open.
- New credit — recently opened accounts and inquiries.
- Credit mix — the variety of account types you have.
That is general information only. No score threshold is promised here, and no single factor decides an application on its own — the whole file matters, including income, debts, and the property.
Habits People Use to Work on Credit Over Time
- Pay on time. Payment history is the heaviest factor for most scoring models, and late payments stay on a report for years.
- Keep balances down. Using a smaller share of your available credit generally looks better than running cards near their limits.
- Do not open a string of new accounts right before applying. New accounts and inquiries can pull a score down at exactly the wrong moment.
- Check your reports for errors. You can get free copies of your credit reports, review them, and dispute information you believe is inaccurate with the credit bureau. That is a general process — no timeline is promised, and disputing a real debt does not make it disappear.
How Bryan Works Credit — Triage
If your credit needs a quick tune-up, Bryan will help you work through it directly. If it needs longer, deeper work, he will refer you to a company that does that full-time — and the mortgage conversation keeps going in the meantime, so you are not starting from zero when you are ready.
Credit help is the on-ramp, not the destination. The goal is a loan application when you are ready — and the application is what decides what you qualify for.
No company name is listed here, because none has been named for this page. If a referral company is named later, it will be added then.
Honest Expectations
- Credit work takes time. Results vary from person to person, and no one can guarantee a specific score increase.
- No approval is promised at any step. Getting ready improves your position; it does not guarantee a mortgage approval, a rate, or a term.
- This page is general education, not advice for you personally. Your situation is your own, and the right next step for you is a conversation — not a webpage.
Start that conversation with an application, or call or text 515-770-2491 to talk through your credit first.
Disclaimers
Personal NMLS #1820018. Bryan Curtis is a loan officer at Pre Approved Mortgage. Only his personal NMLS number is listed here; no company NMLS number is stated.
General education only: this page is not financial, credit, or legal advice, and it is not personalized advice for any individual reader. Individual results vary. Mortgage approval is subject to lender underwriting, and no score increase, timeline, fee, or approval is promised here.