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In today's increasingly automated society, it should come as no surprise that when you apply for a mortgage, your ability to pay can be reduced to a single number. All the years you've been paying your mortgage, car payments, and credit card bills can be analyzed, sliced, diced, spindled and mutilated into a single indicator of whether you're likely to meet your future obligations.

All three of the major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) use a slightly different system to arrive at a score. The best known is called the FICO score, based on a model developed by Fair Isaac and Company (hence the name) and used by Experian. Equifax's model is called BEACON, while TransUnion uses EMPIRICA. While each of the models considers a range of data available in your credit report, the primary factors are:

Each of these, and other items, are assigned a value and a weight. The results are added up and distilled into a single number. FICO scores range from 300 to 850, with higher being better. Typical home buyers likely find their scores falling between 600 and 850.

FICO scores are used for more than just determining whether or not you qualify for a mortgage. Higher scores indicate you are a better credit risk, and thus may qualify for a better mortgage rate.

What can you do about your FICO score? Unfortunately, not much. Since the score is based on a lifetime of credit history, it is difficult to make a significant change in the number with quick fixes. The most important thing is to know your FICO score and to ensure that your credit history is correct. Conveniently, Fair Isaac has created a web site (www.myFICO.com) that let's you do just that. For a reasonable fee, you can quickly get your FICO score from all three reporting agencies, along with your credit report. Also available is some helpful information and tools that help you analyze what actions might have the greatest impact on your FICO score. Each of the credit services offers similar services on their web sites: www.equifax.com, www.experian.com, and www.transunion.com.

Armed with this information, you will be a more informed consumer and better positioned to obtain the most favorable mortgage available to you.

The wealth of information and tools available online has altered the dynamics of finding and buying properties. Follow these tips and make the most of the Web.

By Luke Mullins, U.S. News & World Report

With the worst housing slump in a generation slashing home prices across the country, the dynamics of the market have shifted squarely in favor of buyers. And, as the real-estate industry grows increasingly Web-savvy, house hunters can now scour through neighborhoods, inspect front porches and even peek inside bedrooms from the comfort of their desktops.

But while this surge of new information can help you find that perfect home, it can also — at times — make the whole process overwhelming.

Here are six ways to ensure that your online real-estate search is as efficient and effective as possible.

1. Know when to say when
There are plenty of ways to waste time on the Internet. When it comes to home buying, searching through properties you admire but can't afford tops the list. So before you grab for that mouse, contact a lender and get preapproved for a mortgage. That way you'll know exactly what you can afford.

"It's not difficult," says Elizabeth Deal, senior vice president of ICBA Mortgage, a subsidiary of the trade group Independent Community Bankers of America. After contacting a lender, prospective homebuyers will typically be asked to provide information about their income and debts, Deal says. (In some cases, lenders will want to see a credit report as well.) From that information, the lender will be able to issue a letter outlining the price range that the buyer can afford. The whole process can take as little as a half-hour, Deal says.

2. Find the right tools
Real-estate search engines are getting better and better. Pat Kitano, a cofounder of Domus Consulting Group, which works with real-estate brokerage firms on technology marketing strategies, calls Trulia.com "the most complete national site." Kitano also recommends Dothomes.com. Jay Thompson, of Thompson's Realty in Phoenix, suggests using Zillow.com or Realtor.com, the official site of the National Association of Realtors. (You may use our Interactive Search located here on our website.)

Realtor.com "has probably the most listings of any national site," Thompson says. "Just about anything that is on a local [multiple listing service] will be on Realtor.com." But rather than limit your search to national search engines, Thompson says, it's also a good idea to visit the Web sites of real-estate agents and brokers in the market you are considering.

3. … and put them in a belt
Instead of trying to pinpoint the one "best" search engine, homebuyers should put together a list of resources and use them in tandem. After all, no single search engine can provide a complete picture of the entire housing market. But by using several as a group, prospective homebuyers can get a much better look at the inventory. "A consumer has to go to multiple sites to figure out the whole landscape," Kitano says

4. Don't forget the indies
The majority of Internet search tools enable users to look through homes that are being sold through agents. But if you use those exclusively, you will miss the sizable chunk of homes being sold independently. "Agents list about 77 to 78 percent of the homes on the market, so there is another 22 to 23 percent of homes that 10 to 15 years ago people wouldn't be able to find," says Greg Healy, vice president of operations at ForSaleByOwner.com, which markets the homes of sellers who are looking to cut out the agent and save on commission. "Using sites that are not agent-related is really critical."

Joshua Dorkin, the founder and CEO of BiggerPockets.com, a real-estate networking and information site, says http://craigslist.org/ is a great way to find non-agent-affiliated listings that might not show up on mainstream real estate search engines. "It's the classified powerhouse of the world now," Dorkin says.

5. Be alert
Some online real-estate resources offer e-mail alerts or RSS feeds that provide instant notification of new listings and other information of interest to prospective homebuyers. Sign up! This is a great way to stay on top of the changing real-estate market as your home search progresses. "Rather than actually pulling the information from a particular source, you want that information pushed to you," says Douglas de Jager, cofounder of DotHomes. "It saves you time."

6. Find a good blog
Few resources allow homebuyers to take the pulse of the national and local markets like real-estate blogs. "Real-estate bloggers know in real time what is going on in the market," Kitano says.

Like anything else on the Internet, some blogs are better than others. Shop around. Use your favorite search engine to find a couple of blogs that cover real estate in the markets you are interested in, bookmark them and click through them every day. (Pay special attention to the blogs with the most comments and postings.)

By and large, the real-estate blogging community understands the dynamics of today's housing market in the way few others do. They've emerged as an important voice on housing issues and a wonderful resource for prospective homebuyers.

Preparing Your House for Sale

One of the first things we will do before putting your house on the market is to prepare your house for sale. We want to show your house off in its best light to maximize your earning potential. We will tour your house with the eye of a buyer - what works, what doesn't work.