If you have high balances on credit cards, talk to your credit card companies about increasing your credit limits, especially on cards which you have a good payment history with. This can help reduce your ratio of balances to high limits, and improve your score (as long you don't max them out again).

Age of your established credit accounts will affect your credit scores. If you close all of your established credit cards and then open up new ones this will have a negative impact because the length of your open credit trade-lines will be reduced greatly. If you have credit cards that you no longer use, it makes more sense to simply cut them up or use them once per year, to keep them active, and continue to grow a longer more established credit history that to close the credit card account once it is paid off. Consult a mortgage professional for more information on ways to improve your credit scores.

It is a good idea to review your credit bureau reports at least once a year. This gives you the opportunity to ensure there is no erroneous information being reported, which could negatively impact your credit score.

Late payments on your credit obligations that have occurred during the most recent past six months carry the greatest weight in regard to credit scoring. Also late payments on newly established accounts may cause a lower score than late payments on older accounts that have had an otherwise acceptable payment record.