Are you considering buying a home next year? Or are you planning to refinance out of your ARM loan?

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Since the past six months are most important to your credit scores and there are a few things you can start doing today that will bring them up:

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Pay your credit card bills the very day that you receive them in the mail. This is a great way to get an easy 20 to 30 points on your scores when done for at least six months in a row.

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Pay off or pay down all of your credit card debt, if you can.

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Pay off debt rather than moving it around. Moving it around means new inquiries and new accounts, which will drag down your scores.

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Don't consolidate your credit cards into one or two cards. You will throw the ratio off between your available credit and your balances. Please don't ask your creditor to increase your credit card limits to establish the 25% or lower ratio. This backfires a lot more often than it ever helps.

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Don't open any new accounts before applying for your mortgage loan.

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Don't close accounts unless you absolutely have to in order to protect yourself from an ex-spouse or significant other who may use or abuse jointly held credit. Closing a single account can cost 80 points!

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Don't pay off a collection account. Paying it off will make it brand new again and drop your score as much as 75 to 80 points. The only way around this is to negotiate payment for a full deletion of the collection from any reporting at the time of payment. Most lenders will allow you to pay collections off at the closing as they know that it will hurt your scores.

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Don't buy or even shop for a timeshare, car, motorcycle, boat or recreational vehicle before you buy the house or refinance. You can do this right afterwards and it won't throw you out of qualifying for the best rate on your loan.

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Don't co-sign on loans (or at least avoid it). You are fully responsible for the debt if the other person does not pay. In addition, it adds another inquiry on your report and adds another account to your credit profile.

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Don't freak out about credit inquiries due to shopping for the best lender. Don't be overly concerned; but don't be too casual either. Those with scores between 500 and 639 should be the most careful as those scores are most impacted by inquiries.

Please remember that your home loan lender may pull your credit report as many as four times during your loan process. When this is done within a 45 day period of time, it will usually only score-out as just one inquiry.

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Also, remember that your homeowner's insurance company could also pull your credit report and create an inquiry on your credit profile.

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Don't change jobs while your loan is in process without discussing it with your loan officer. If you are moving up into the same field it can be a very positive part of your loan qualification process.

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If you are changing the kind of work or going into self employment, it is possible that this could create a problem. It might be best to close your loan and then make your move.

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If you lose your job, it is urgent to address this right away with the loan officer. Quick information can save the entire loan process for you. Your loan officer may be able to help you with restructuring your loan.

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Any and all of things will help you with obtaining the highest credit scores for yourself. Those who make these suggestions a regular habit when dealing with credit will build your scores up to their highest achievable levels.

Added by author on Dec 11th, 10:05am PST:

Based on a comment from Ken Stampe, a mortgage loan officer with Bank of America, I encourage the reader to seek specific advice regarding their personal financial situation from a trusted loan officer. Again, my thanks to Ken."?

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