Fix Your Credit Before Applying For a Mortgage

Very few people have absolutely perfect credit, so lending institutions really do not expect to see a spotless report from every applicant.  If, however, your credit report is peppered with unpaid accounts and maxxed-out credit cards then you need to take care of these sorts of things before applying for a mortgage loan.  Some lenders will indeed approve a mortgage loan for people with these sorts of credit issues, but they will approve it contingent upon the items being taken care of. 

So even though the loan is approved it will sit in a sort of limbo until the accounts are all brought to a current status.  It is far better to go ahead and bring the items current before ever applying.  Ideally you should bring them current and then give the credit reporting agencies a couple of months to update everything in your report since this sort of updating is not instantaneous.  First you need to wait for the lender to report the updates to the reporting agency, and it also takes time for the reporting agency to update your profile with the correct information. 

You can see why it is best to do these things long before applying for a loan.  It is so much better to know what is lingering on your credit report before asking a lender to give you a bunch of money for a house.