The process to buy a home in today's real estate market can be challenging. It can be difficult to find the right home and compete with any other buyers. However, when you apply for a mortgage pre-approval, the process is more straightforward with specific requirements and items you can expect from start to the closing. Here are some tips to help you with your upcoming home purchase and mortgage pre-approval.

Understand Your Credit Report

As the first rule of a home buyer, it is essential that you get to know your credit report and its related credit score before you can successfully apply for a mortgage. The mortgage is essential when you don't have the cash to buy a home, so start this process off early on in your purchase so you are ready to search for the right home within your budget. This will help you avoid having a delay in your home closing and will prevent the occurrence of losing out on your dream home.

Get your credit reports from all three main credit bureaus so you can evaluate each one and go over the details included in each. Each of the three credit bureaus may have slightly different information, so check them out thoroughly to identify any errors so you can have them repaired through the online credit file dispute process. 

Review details on each file, including your address history, work information, name, age, and social security number. If there are any errors on your credit report when you apply for a mortgage, it can cause problems with the loan approval. Look at each of the credit file trades, which includes all credit accounts, the balance of each, if it is open or closed, your payment history, and if there are any derogatory payment details. If a credit file shows your account was charged off but you paid it off in full, you will need to dispute this to have it corrected on your file.

Shop For a Mortgage Lender

It is also helpful to shop around for a lender for your mortgage loan. Every lender may have different charges and fees for a variety of different loans. For example, you may find a lender provides a fixed loan rate but with a specific amount in buy-down points, but another lender will have a similar interest rate but with a higher origination fee. Check out all the lender's fees and costs associated with the loan to make sure you are getting the best price for your mortgage loan pre-approval.

For more information on mortgage pre-approval, contact a company like AJM Mortgage Inc.

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