Some of the most important elements of buying a home is knowing how much home you can afford to buy. How much money you have to put as a down payment and how much money you can afford to pay on a monthly basis may not only determine the size of your home, but which neighborhood you choose.

Here are some tips to make your life easier:

• Clean up your finances

Pull a copy of your credit report to see exactly what all three credit agencies are reporting about you. Not only do you want to know your credit scores, but you want to know if your balances and payment history is being properly documented. Check with Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.

Years ago when purchasing a home I found out during escrow that a credit card I had closed years earlier was reporting late payments, impossible since the account was closed before the alleged late payments were made. Regardless I had to obtain a letter from the company reporting the late payments stating that this was erroneous information, it was, unfortunately, not an easy task. Needless to say, my life would have been much easier had I known about this problem before entering escrow!

• Meet with your lender to get pre-approved for a loan

Pre-qualification is different from pre-approval, because it is only an estimate of what you'll be able to afford. Pre-approval is a more conventional process where a lender examines your finances and agrees in advance to loan you money up to a specified amount.

Get a lock in rate letter along with a loan commitment if you can. That will make your offer that much more enticing to a homeowner.

Continued at the Burbankmarketreport.com!