If you are going to be applying for a mortgage in the near future or if you've applied for one already and have gotten turned down or blasted with high rates, you may want to think about working on your credit score. A poor credit history can make it next to impossible to get approved for a mortgage. And, even if you do get approved with a poor credit score, your rates are likely to be through the roof. Fortunately, though, you can solve this problem by taking some simple but effective steps toward improving your credit score.

Go Over Your Credit Score Report with a Fine-Tooth Comb

First things first, you will want to access your credit score report to get an accurate idea of where you stand. Be sure, once you access the report, to go over it carefully.

You would be surprised how common it is for there to be errors on credit reports, some of which can end up hurting you. As such, go through your report carefully and take the appropriate steps to report any incorrect information on the report.

Check back every so often to ensure that the inaccurate information, if there is any, gets removed and to see how it affects your score.

Keep Credit Card Balances Low

One thing that can negatively impact your credit score is if you have very high credit card balances. It's good to have a high credit limit but bad if you're using all or even most of that limit.

If you do have high balances on one or more cards, focus on paying down that debt. The lower you can get the debt, the better your credit score should become, which will really help you in terms of getting a mortgage at a reasonable rate.

Be On Time

You might not think it really matters all that much if you pay a bill late here or there, but, believe it or not, making payments late really does hurt your credit score. In fact, it can hurt it a lot, especially if this becomes a habit with you.

You can really see your credit score go up if you start making an effort to pay all of your bills on time.

As you can see, a bad credit score isn't the end of the world when it comes to getting a mortgage, at least not if you take the proper steps to improve your credit score and, thus, your mortgage prospects.