Do you know when a lender's inquiry lowers your FICO scores? Or how your interest rate is determined on your mortgage? And the best loan to take out when trying to reestablish and build your FICO scores the fastest?

There are four separate home buyers purchasing the same exact home with the same sales price of $300,000, same seller concessions and down payment. Everything is the same for the four buyers except how much they eventually pay. You would think since the sales price is the same for the four buyers, they will all pay the same. They don’t. They all will pay different amounts. This unfamiliar oversight is the most costly mistake most prospective homebuyers make!

A frantic mother called me after she discovered her daughter’s FICO® scores had dropped 30 points within a few weeks and she wanted to know why. She was told her daughter’s mortgage interest rate would be almost 1/2% higher on a $325,000 loan because of her lower scores. What happen next is beyond criminal.

Credit Karma tells everyone to get their free Credit Karma "Vantage" credit scores. You think that is good. Actually, it is not. All mortgage lenders require Classic FICO® credit scores for their loan approvals, which also determine your interest rates and loan fees. Vantage Scores do not give the same precise scores mortgage lenders require from the Classic FICO Scores. That is where the problem with Credit Karma starts.