Q: I am planning to start shopping for my first home next month, so I have followed your advice by first obtaining a copy of my credit report to make sure everything is OK. In viewing the report, I realized that I still have three credit cards that I had completely forgot about and haven’t used for a very long time. Would closing these accounts now improve my credit score and make it easier to get a mortgage when I find a home that I want to buy?

A: No, closing the three unused credit-card accounts today wouldn’t improve your chances of getting a home-loan next month. Oddly, closing the accounts now actually could lower your score and make it harder to get a mortgage at the best interest rate.

There are a couple of reasons why it wouldn’t make sense to close the unused accounts today.

One reason is because mortgage lenders favor applicants who have shown a steady and predictable pattern of handling their credit and debt payments: Closing the dormant accounts now would break the pattern that you have established, which in turn would lead to a temporary reduction in your credit score just weeks before you plan to start shopping for a mortgage.

In addition, closing the accounts now would also increase your debt-to-credit-limit ratio, a key figure that represents the percentage of available credit that you already have in use. Mortgage lenders tend to favor loan applicants with low debt ratios, but closing the unused accounts now would automatically push your ratio higher, unless you also pay off a lot of your other debt at the same time.

Fortunately, the negative effect on credit scores caused by closing unused accounts usually goes away after a few months. But because you’re planning to start looking for a mortgage in the next few weeks, it probably would be better to apply for the home loan first and then close the old accounts after the purchase of your new home closes.

McClatchy Photo Illustration

Q: I was interested in your recent column that said some cities in Oregon, Utah and New York were still seeing more than 20 percent gains in the value of their houses. But what about the market for condominiums? Where are condo prices rising fastest?

A: According to statistics provided by the National Association of Realtors, prices for condos are rising fastest in Knoxville, Tenn. The value of a typical condo in the self-proclaimed city of “black bears, bluegrass, basketball and ballet” is now $155,700, up 29 percent from a year ago.

The second-hottest condo market might surprise you: It’s Wichita, where the area’s median condo price of $130,300 is almost 26 percent higher than last year. The No. 3 spot goes to fast-growing Albuquerque, N.M., where the typical condominium now sells for $153,300 – up 21 percent from a year ago.