The Personal Finance Geek

Eddy is in his early 30s, just got married, has a good job, and still has some federal student loans from his bachelor's and graduate work in architectural engineering. He and his wife, now, having combined their finances as a result of their marriage, comfortably have enough for a down payment on the house they've had their eye on. They're going to an open house today, and then, as soon as that's over, they need to meet with the bank to show them the financial statements they asked for, to safely approve Eddy and his wife for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage so they can get the house before it's too late, either because someone started a bidding war, or because someone just outright made a much better offer.  One of the most important things the bank will want to know about Eddy is his FICO Score, commonly called a "credit score." This number, ranging from 300 to 850-- the higher the better-- is a one-stop-shop for a financial institution to know how...