Credit Check: The Necessary Evil When Applying for a Mortgage 🫣 Soft pull or hard pull — it doesn’t matter. Most people hate having their credit run. We all know why, so I’ll skip that part. As a realtor, the thing I hear most when I ask someone if they’ve ever considered moving from renting to homeownership is: “I have to fix my credit.” Most times, that’s true. The problem is that credit repair feels overwhelming. It’s easy to delay it, avoid it, or convince yourself to just accept where you are and do nothing. Not speaking as a realtor, but as a person — someone who has also been embarrassed by their credit situation — I understand exactly how that feels. I represent all buyers and sellers, but I gravitate toward renters and underserved communities. In my opinion, that’s an entire class of future homeowners. Too often, deals die early because of less-than-perfect credit files, and people are written off before they even understand their options. As soon as I got licensed, I aligned myself with lenders who specialize in FHA and first-time buyers, along with credit professionals who work based on lender guidance — fixing only what actually matters. There’s no cheat code. It’s collaboration. With the right agent and the right network, a credit check can turn a “Not Approved” into a “Not Yet.” That’s when the work begins — and I’m with you through the process. Mike Scott | NJ Realtor