What rate will I get for my fixed-rate mortgage?

That’s a great question because you and your rate are basically getting married, right? So here’s what you need to know about the rate you’ll get – and what you can do to make sure it’s the best possible.

Rates are based on credit scores and something fancy called creditworthiness. The better your credit score, the lower your rate. To improve your credit, you can:

• Pay down your credit cards and other debt through a debt consolidation loan or tight budgeting.
• Always pay on time because it takes many months to undo the damage caused by one missed payment.
• Try to use less than 30% of your available credit across all sources, and never max out a credit card or line of credit.
• Just like eating all the major food groups, you want to have a healthy mix of credit types: credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, etc.
• Keep your accounts open for as long as possible, even with a zero balance because the FICO wizards love a person who can stay the course.