 TITLE: How to Compete With Cash Offers When Buying a House CONTENT: Make Sure Your Credit Is Mortgage-ready\n---------------------------------------\nIf you're just beginning to seek financing on a new home, or if you've begun looking into mortgage preapproval and find the authorized loan amount less than you'd hoped for, or the interest rate steeper than you'd expected, it might be wise to step back and make sure your credit is mortgage-ready.\nIf possible, consider waiting six months to a year before applying for a mortgage and take steps as needed to improve your credit scores, such as:\n*   Pay down credit card balances, especially those with balances that exceed about 30% of the card's borrowing limit.\n*   Review your credit reports and dispute any inaccuracies that might be bringing your credit scores down.\n*   Refrain from applying for new loans or credit cards for at least six months before submitting a mortgage application.\n*   Track your progress by monitoring your credit scores. You could see score increases in as little as a few months but focusing on these good habits for a year or more could bring even greater improvement.\nContending with cash buyers in competitive real estate markets adds another challenge to the potentially stressful process of financing and buying a new home. If you get your finances together and are nimble and flexible in your ability to meet sellers' closing requirements, you and your team of professionals will have more than a fighting chance against real-estate investors. END