Make Pre-Approval
Your Top Priority

Question: My husband and I are saving money for the down payment on a new home we hope to buy next spring. What is the most important thing that we can do in preparation for buying our first home?

Kelly: I wish that all of the questions I receive could be answered as readily as this one. The most important thing to do is get pre-approved by a lender. This means going to a direct lender or mortgage broker, filling out a standard mortgage application and having your credit checked. It will take a few days at most and you'll learn a lot of useful information from it. You'll find out what size mortgage and monthly payment the lender feels you can afford and, perhaps most important in your situation, how much of a down payment you really need. You may be surprised to find that for buyers with good credit, many lenders will allow a down payment of as little as 3%. You may not have to wait until spring.

You can get pre-approved by a local mortgage broker or bank. Internet brokers such as E-Loan Inc. (www.eloan.com) and Mortgage.com Inc. (www.mortgage.com) are another option.

For answers to any additional questions, see the new edition of my book, "Buy Your First Home" (Dearborn, 2000).

Mr. Irwin has more than 25 years' experience as a Los Angeles-area real-estate broker. He is the author of more than two dozen books about real estate and is recognized as one of the most knowledgeable writers in the real-estate field. Mr. Irwin's most recent book is "Tips and Traps When Renovating Your Own Home," (McGraw-Hill, 2000).

Submit your question about residential real-estate and home-improvement issues to homes.wsj.com.

Kelly, Torrance, Calif.

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