How Your Credit Score Affects Where You Can Buy a House

On paper, you'd think Teri Roberts, 32, of Chicago, and her husband would live in a McMansion, or at the very least have a home with some elbowroom. "We can't qualify for a mortgage on a cardboard box, let alone a home," says Roberts, a mother of four. That's because Roberts and her husband don't have a credit score that lenders find attractive.
In the late 1990s, both Roberts and her husband worked