-We got pre-approved then immediately started looking for houses. They last 90 days and don’t have a huge impact on your credit score

-Shop around. We started with 4, 2 local and 2 online. Ended up using Chase because they got us the best rate at the time. I’m happy with my lower rate but there were a few moments during the process with Chase that I wished I could just go to a local office down the street. There’s pros and cons to both.

-I’m echoing the other comment about the first time homebuyers class. I used the link below and took one and it was invaluable. It was fairly inexpensive and I learned a lot. It’s a 2 day course and you end up hearing from people from every aspect of the home buying process from lenders to inspectors

https://harborlightcp.org/housing/first-time-home-buyer/first-time-home-buyer-class/