Pre-qualifying is the first step in securing your loan with one of the best mortgage lenders. Remember, once you get pre-qualified, you will still need to get pre-approved and submit additional paperwork.   To get pre-qualified, you will need to fill out basic information with a lender to gauge how much you can loan based on your income and debts. The quotes will provide you with a general estimate to start looking at homes.  But you might need more information to actually make an offer on the home by securing a pre-approval letter. A pre-approval will show sellers that you are committed and serious about purchasing the home. To get pre-approved, you will need to provide a ton of information, including:  -Taxes for the past 2 years -Bank statements -Employment verification -Explanations of negative remarks on credit score The lender will also do a hard pull on your credit score to figure out your interest rate. The process isn’t quick, and I recommend that you have all your statements prepared electronically to make it easy.