You probably know that credit history is one of the key deciding factors for getting a good mortgage. Building good credit takes time and good habits, and nothing will improve your credit score like careful financial management over time. However, if you’re looking to bump you score by a few points before applying for a mortgage this year, there are a few steps you can take to improve your credit to try and get a better rate or bigger dollar amount.

While there’s no substitute for good financial habits, here are a few tips to bump up your credit score quickly:

Look for Credit Mistakes

Credit reports aren’t always correct, and it’s a good idea to review your credit report to see if there’s any incorrect information. Some reports have estimated that nearly 20 percent of Americans have some error in their credit history, and five percent of consumers have credit errors that resulted in unfavorable loans.

Run a free credit check from a major credit bureau like Experian or Equifax at least once before you apply for a mortgage. If you find a mistake, you can contact that credit bureau directly to correct the error.

Corrected errors can help improve your credit in about two months.

Pay Down Your Debts

Credit utilization is one of the biggest chunks of your credit score, and the more available credit you have the better. For revolving credit like credit cards, your goal should be to get your utilization percentage as close the single digits as possible.

Paying off your debts can improve your credit as soon as one month.

Start Making Payments On Time

Hopefully, you’re already able to pay all your bills on time, but sometimes, you may need to make a late payment that hurts your credit score. If you know you are late on any bills, make sure that you are on time for your next billing cycle.

Once you’ve show that you can pay all your bills on time, you may notice improvements to your credit score in two to three months.

Get More Credit

One way to boost your credit score is to get approved for a larger line of credit. You can either ask for a credit increase with an existing credit card or try applying for a new one.

Increasing the amount of unused credit you have access to can you get closer to that low credit utilization goal, but don’t go overboard with applying for new credit cards. Applying for too many credit cards in a short period of time will actually hurt your score.

As long as you don’t go crazy with credit applications, this method can boost your score in one to two months.