You know that a good credit score is important when purchasing a home, but how important is it really? How much more does a buyer with a lower credit score spend on a home? Since other factors, like down payment and financing options, can also impact how much one spends over the life of a mortgage, what is the real cost of your credit score?

The credit and real estate experts at the Equifax Finance blog show us just how important credit scores are using an example with two buyers in a recent article, “

How Much a Credit Score Can Cost You When Getting a Mortgage.” One has a credit score between 700 and 759; the other has a score somewhere in the 660 to 679 range. With the same type of financing on the same priced home, the buyer with the lower credit score will end up paying more than $20,000 more than the buyer with the higher score. Read the full article to see how they came up with that figure.

If you’re looking to buy a home in the not-too-distant future, take the steps now to boost your credit score and save more money on your home. Start by checking your report at www.AnnualCreditReport.com and learning about all the steps you can take to improve your score with the helpful articles and videos on the Equifax Finance blog. While there, you can also learn about other personal finance topics, including real estate, taxes, retirement, insurance, identity theft protection and more.