When buying a home, or any large purchase for that matter, it is important to familiarize yourself with your credit score and the role you play in reaching this score . It is your FICO score that will indicate to lenders if they  should lend you the money, charge you more, or flat out reject your request for financing.

Don't defeat yourself before you get started. The article 6 ways to kill your credit score has some invaluable information about how we can sabotage our own credit and sometimes without knowing it.

Stay on top of your credit score and review your credit report regularly. This will limit the potential for errors that can also negatively affect your FICO score.