As a direct lender for real estate investors, I've been bamboozled by the number of people who are unable to identify their credit score and/or are unaware of significant derogatory incidents in their credit history. As investors, there are aspects of our profiles that instill more confidence than credit, such as experience, but credit is still a big/determining factor from a lending perspective. 

Please do me and all the other lenders out there a favor - check your credit every once in a while. There are tremendously useful resources you can access for free that will make you a more savvy investor and could save you time and money. How do you know you don't have a 700 credit score and should be paying less in interest if you don't check your score?? :)

• MyFico.com
• Mint
• Credit Karma
• Freecreditreport.com
• Annualcreditreport.com
• Creditsesame.com

It's crucial to understand how your credit impacts your ability to get a loan, and the first line of defense is knowing your score. 

@StephenHerbert, you are spot on with your recommendation to check your credit. I am working with a company to correct errors and clean up my credit history right now.  Items are being addressed that I never new I could address until I engaged someone familiar with doing this.  While I realized you can address issues on your credit report directly with the credit reporting agencies, I chose to work with a company that does this and is familiar with the processes. When done I will be in a much better standing to secure credit at a much better rate.