Getting Pre-approved for Your Mortgage Loan Comes With Several Benefits.

It gives you an accurate idea of how much you can likely borrow. You can then use that number to help guide your home search and stay on budget.It helps you better compete with other home buyers. You can include your pre-approval letter in any offers you submit and it gives sellers confidence, letting them know you have the finances to back up your bid. It can sometimes help your loan close faster. Because the lender already has much of your financial information on file, being pre-approved can sometimes help speed up the process.Failing to safeguard your credit. See updates about huge benefits

Your credit is extremely important in the mortgage process. Not only does it impact your ability to qualify for a loan, but it also influences your mortgage rate, too.Before applying for a mortgage, you want to make sure your credit score is in a good place. You can easily determine your credit score and receive regular credit reports through sites like Experian. See what credit score range you're in within minutes!Mortgage lenders typically reserve the best interest rates for borrowers with scores of 740 (sometimes 760) or higher. If your score's not at that point yet, you might try increasing it before filing your loan application successfull.

Once you've filled out an application and gotten pre-approved, staying on top of your credit is critical. Your lender will run your credit report one more time before your closing date, and if your score has dropped, your card balances have skyrocketed or you're late on payments, it could delay your loan or even disqualify you altogether.To ensure this doesn't happen, in the weeks leading up to your closing, and don't charge any big-ticket purchases either  including furniture or decor for your new home. Your credit should remain as stable and unchanged as possible once you apply for a mortgage, so save buy genuine these items for a later date, once you've closed on the loan.

Other Mistakes to Avoid

This isn't an exhaustive list, of course. There are other slip-ups that can throw your mortgage off track, too things like forgetting to budget for closing costs, not locking your interest rate or changing jobs/reducing your income right before closing on your loan.To avoid falling victim to these, educate yourself on the mortgage process before applying for a loan. Once you do apply, work closely with your mortgage broker or loan officer, and heed their advice. You can also contact a free housing counselor who can guide you through the process.