There is usually no commitment on your part to get pre-qualified. In most cases, you don't even need to provide personal income documents. Of course, the more documents you furnish to your mortgage broker, the better and more accurate your pre-qualification will be. If you provide your mortgage broker with income and assets documentations, he/she can get you pre-approved from a bank, which is basically a loan approval, pending the information of the home and the appraisal.

Definitely begin the process as early as possible with your mortgage broker. This will give you a nice clear picture of what you can afford and what the process will be once you find your dream home. The sooner you begin with your mortgage broker, the sooner you can move through the loan process once you find your home!

Giving yourself time needed to save up for a down payment, improving your scores, and moving balances on accounts is imperative to a successful home loan transaction.

It's actually not a bad idea to start looking into being qualified as much as three months before you plan on purchasing a home. That way, if there are any credit issues that you were not aware of, there is a good chance you will have time to address them before the purchase.

If you have an Adjustable Rate Mortgage(ARM) Loan, and the fixed period is will be expiring soon. You should look into becoming qualified for a new mortgage loan at about three months prior to the fixed period's expiration.

It is a great idea to get pre approved before you start to look for a new home so you know how much you have to finance. With todays many 100% purchase programs a down payment is becoming a thing of the past for many people. But with no down payment the amount you can afford to finance will go down.