Your needs are the essentials-the things you absolutely must have in a home for it to be acceptable to you. Your wants are features you'd like to have in a home, but that aren't deal-breakers for you. You need to determine how much you can pay up front for a down payment and for closing costs. Most homebuyers put down at least ten percent of the purchase price, although some programs require less. However, depending on the size of the down payment, you may have to pay private mortgage insurance.
Programs are available with more relaxed qualifying guidelines.
Get pre-approved to avoid disappointment and to provide yourself with an advantage over other buyers. Sellers and real estate agents will be much more open to working with you if they know you have already taken care of financing arrangements. To get pre-approved for a loan, you'll complete a loan application and usually pay a small fee. You may also be asked to provide recent tax returns, which you'll typically have to turn over anyway to obtain a final loan. Pre-qualifying with a lender is based on a limited amount of information and can only give you a general range of what you may be able to qualify for.