Want to increase your credit score before buying a home? It might be easier than you think. Focus on these 6 steps and watch your score climb.

Source: How to boost your credit score

Pay your bills on time, every time

Your payment history on credit cards, car loans, utilities, etc. is the single biggest factor in your credit score, weighted at about 35 percent. Even a single 30-day-late payment could knock 100 points off your score — and that can really hurt. FICO considers how late you were, how many times, how much was owed, and how recently it happened.

You can’t erase the fact that you were late — that will stay on your credit report for up to seven years – but you can get back on track and move on. The farther slip-ups recede into the past, the less they affect your current score. If your…