For many potential borrowers and future home owners, preparing to apply for a loan makes all of the difference in the world.  Not only knowing what a lender expects but staying one step ahead of the game will insure success.

In the previous section we discussed what a lender expects before approving a loan.  In this section, we will focus on the three areas that often cause problems for a borrower:  income, credit, and the source of funds to close.

Income
As a standard rule of thumb, most lending guidelines require a two year history in a profession and proof of income at the current pay rate.  If you know that in a month or two you will receive a pay raise, wait until the new pay scale goes into effect.  Even a 25 cent raise per hour will increase your loan amount by approximately $6,000 (assuming an 8% interest rate over 30 years). 

If you are self-employed, you may have to bite the bullet and not write off as many expenses as you could.   By doing so, the amount of reported income increases which results in a higher qualifying loan amount.  On the other hand, you pay more taxes and completely ignores other available loan programs such as a stated income or no income verification loan.

If you currently have a temp job and you know a lender will not accept your income, find a permanent position with an employer.  Unless you are drastically switching professions (Marketing Executive to Chemist, for example), it likely that you will be able to use the income to qualify.

Credit
Before searching for a home or attempting to apply for a loan, it is highly recommended that you request a copy of your credit report from all three major credit repositories (Experian, Trans-Union, and Equifax).  Review the information to see if any known or unknown problems exists that could potentially prevent you from obtaining a loan.

If you suspect that you may have credit issues (i.e. recent late payments, open collection accounts, judgments, etc) that report on your credit report, take care of them immediately.  If you decide to pay off a collection account, try negotiating with the creditor first.  Often times creditors will accept a reduced amount in order to be paid (something is better than nothing).  However, if you pay off an account, be sure to have documented proof from the creditor that the account is paid in full.

If you plan on paying off several credit cards prior to borrowing money, be sure to pay off the account(s) at least one to two months prior to application.  The reason is due to the slow response time of many creditors in showing that an account is paid off on your credit report.  If a lender cannot prove that you have paid off an account on your credit report, that debt may be included in your debt to income ratio (thus reducing the amount of the loan you qualify for).

Source of Funds 
Another sticky issue that many borrowers have to dance around is verification of their money in order to close.  Lenders generally require that money rests in a bank account for a minimum of three months in the bank.