Are you a first time home buyer? With so many choices to make and so much at stake, its essential that you prepare.

Let's start with the first step:

Clean Up Your Credit Score Before Buying a House

It's easy to fall in love with the idea of buying a home, but if you're going to get a mortgage (and let's face it, most homebuyers do), you'll likely need to improve your credit score.

Also called a FICO score, your credit score is a simplified calculation of your history of paying back debts and making regular payments on loans. If you're borrowing money to buy a home, mortgage lenders want to know you'll pay them back in a timely manner. Your credit score is an easy estimate of those odds.

Here's your crash course on this all-important little number, and how to whip it into the best home-buying shape possible.

What credit score do you need to buy a house?

The Federal Housing Administration requires a minimum credit score of 580 to permit a 3.5% down payment, and major lenders often require at least 620, if not more. Some will go as low as 500, but you shouldn't count on that.

There are three major U.S. credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion), and each releases its own credit scores and reports (a more detailed history that's used to determine your score). Their scores should be roughly equivalent, although they do pull from different sources. For example, Experian considers on-time rent payments while TransUnion has detailed information about previous employers.

To access these scores and reports, financial planner Bob Forrest of Mutual of Omaha recommends using AnnualCreditReport.com, where you can get a free copy of your report every 12 months from each credit-reporting company. It doesn't include your credit score, though—you'll have to go to each company for that, and pay a small fee.

Or check with your credit card company: A variety of card issuers offer free access to scores and reports, says Michael Chadwick, owner of Chadwick Financial Advisors in Unionville, CT. Once you've got your report, thoroughly review it page by page, particularly the “adverse accounts" section that details late payments and other slip-ups.

Ready to take the first step? Let's get you started with a LOCAL lender who knows the current market and whom I know and trust.  Simply respond to this Blog and I'll send you a couple referalls. No strings attached!