Getting started: what to do before you apply

Buying a home has two halves: getting ready to apply, and then the approval process itself. This page is about the first half — the readiness work you do up front, mostly before you have picked a house or filled out a single form. Do it well and the second half goes smoothly. Skip it and you find the problems at the worst possible time, usually under contract with a clock running.

Five steps, in order.

Know your real credit score

Start here, because it takes the longest to change. And know that the score that matters for a mortgage is not the one on your credit card app or Credit Karma — lenders use a specific, older set of scores, and yours is often a little lower than the number you have been watching. It is worth understanding before anything else: here is the score your lender actually uses.

Once you know your real number, you have time to improve it if it is worth it — paying down the right balances, avoiding the moves that backfire, and, when you are close to a tier line, using a lender-only rapid rescore. Here is how to clean up your score before you apply. Even a few points can move your rate and your mortgage insurance.

Gather your documents

Underwriting runs on paperwork, and gathering it early turns a stressful scramble into a non-event. Start a single folder now with your recent pay stubs, the last two years of W-2s or 1099s, your two most recent bank and asset statements, and a photo ID. If you are self-employed or paid on commission, expect to add tax returns and business documentation — that file is bigger, so start sooner.

Here is the full list so nothing gets missed: the document checklist.

Figure out what you can actually afford

Notice this is step three, not step one — the number that matters is not the sticker price of a house, it is the monthly payment, and the payment is more than principal and interest. It includes property taxes, homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance if you put less than 20% down, and any HOA dues. Two houses at the same price can carry very different payments once taxes and insurance are in.

Run real numbers before you fall in love with a listing: the calculators and tools will show you the full monthly picture. A good target is a payment that leaves room to live — not the absolute maximum a lender will allow.

Know the difference: pre-qualification vs pre-approval

These get used interchangeably, but they are not the same, and the gap matters when you write an offer. A pre-qualification is a quick, informal estimate based on what you tell me — useful for a ballpark, but light. A pre-approval means I have actually reviewed your credit, income, and assets and issued a letter backed by that review. Sellers and their agents know the difference, and in a competitive offer the real pre-approval is the one that gets taken seriously.

Get the real pre-approval before you shop in earnest. It tells you exactly what you can offer, and it makes your offer credible the moment you find the house.

Understand the cash it takes — not just the down payment

The down payment gets all the attention, but it is not the only cash you need at the table. There are closing costs — lender fees, title, appraisal, prepaid taxes and insurance, and setting up your escrow account — and together with your down payment they make up your total “cash to close.” Knowing that full number early means no scramble at the end, and it is often where a good broker saves you money by catching charges that should not be there.

Here is how the costs break down and who pays what: what your mortgage actually costs.

Then the approval process begins

Once you are ready — credit checked, documents in hand, budget set, pre-approval in place — the second half starts: you make an offer, it gets accepted, and your loan moves through application, processing, underwriting, and finally the clear to close. That is a whole process of its own, and I have laid it out step by step here: the mortgage approval process.

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