If you're planning to sell your house in this sluggish housing market, you need to make a good impression. Clean the windows. Wax the floors. Power-wash the cat.
If you're a home buyer, you need to do some housekeeping, too. Unless your credit record is spotless, you probably won't qualify for the lowest mortgage rates.
When you apply for a mortgage, most lenders will review your FICO score, a widely used score developed by Fair Isaac. A few months ago, borrowers with a FICO score of 700 usually qualified for the lowest mortgage rates, says Mavel Vargas, manager of lending research for Informa Research Services. Now, though, most borrowers need a score of at least 720 to get the best rates, she says.
