Brian Skinner, Real Estate Advisor, Engel & Volkers Calgary

Your credit score is now the most important factor in determining how much house you can buy, so if you are in the market for a new home, you need to understand how it affects you. In order to make it easy for mortgage companies to determine the risk of lending to you, they are using a system called credit scoring (also called "FICO" scores).

There are a few easy ways to make extra principle payments that can save you a ton of money in interest expenses and get you mortgage-free sooner than you thought possible. The results of this simple strategy can save you a fortune and drastically reduce the length of your mortgage.

As an example, if your monthly mortgage payments were $734 dollars a month, but you rounded it up to $800 per month, you would save more than $48,000 in interest payments, and reduce the length of your mortgage by 7.5 years!This is an easy way to save money and shorten your mortgage. For example, if you have a $100,000 mortgage, and you have a $1000 tax refund this year, you take apply that refund to your mortgage.

How to Avoid a Money Pit: Be on the Lookout for these 6 Warning Signs That Could Mean Expensive Repairs. Many people think that serious defects in a home are easy to spot, but the truth is, often the most serious and costly problems can only be detected upon very close inspection. When you are considering buying a home, look for the following six telltale signs of serious problems.

The best way to avoid this is to get pre-approved for a mortgage so you know exactly how much you can afford. Usually pre-approvals are free. You should always have a professional inspector look at the home before buying it, otherwise you could be looking at huge repair costs later on. Read this guide to avoiding a money pit.