A lender wants to know your ability to pay back their loan and your willingness to pay back their loans ON TIME in order to lend to you. 

Banks look at your debt to income obligation ratio. Your ability to pay back all of your loans on time will help determine your credit score.

The most widely used credit scores are FICO scores, which were developed by Fair Isaac & Company, Inc. Your FICO score is between 350 (high risk) and 850 (low risk). Knowing your score will give you a better idea of how banks view you.

Credit scores only consider the information contained in your credit profile. FICO, does not consider your income, savings, down payment amount, or demographic factors like gender, race, nationality or marital status. In fact, the fact they don't consider demographic factors is why they were invented in the first place. "Profiling" was as dirty a word when FICO scores were invented as it is now. Credit scoring was developed as a way to consider only what was relevant to somebody's willingness to repay a loan.

Past delinquencies, derogatory payment behavior, current debt level, length of credit history, types of credit and number of inquiries are all considered in credit scores. Your score considers both positive and negative information in your credit report. Late payments will lower your score, but establishing or reestablishing your good track record of making payments on time will raise your score.

1) 35% of your FICO score is based on your specific payment history. 2) 30% is your current level of indebtedness. 3) 15% each is the time your open credit has been in use (ten year old accounts are good, six month old ones aren't as good) and types of credit available to you (installment loans such as student loans, car loans, etc. versus revolving and debit accounts like credit cards). 4) 5% is pursuit of new credit scores requested.

Your credit report www.transunion.com, www.experian.com, www.equifax.com,  must contain at least one account which has been open for six months or more, and at least one account that has been updated in the past six months for you to get a credit score. If you do not meet the minimum criteria for getting a score, you may need to establish a good credit history, ie, 2 secured credit cards, prior to applying for a mortgage.