You need to talk to lenders as soon as you start looking—even if it’s only to shop on the internet.

Talk to a lender first of all to establish your budget and find out if you have any serious credit or other problems that need to be solved.

You can usually do this on the phone. The lender will want info on gross annual income, monthly payment for debts such as car loans, student loans, alimony or support payments, and credit cards, and the lender will also want to do a credit check. She will need your social security number, to check your credit situation.

Do not pay an up-front fee for this service—some lenders will want to charge you.

Tell the lender you want to buy a house and need to know how much you could borrow, and on what terms, and what the monthly mortgage payment would be.

Do not worry too much about shopping for a lender at this stage—you can shop for the best rates and terms later if you want to.

Do not rely on an internet lender. You need to talk to someone who can pick out unique features of your situation and who knows and does business in this area.

After you have settled on a specific price range, you will need to ask the lender to prepare a preapproval letter. This should be done after you are in contact with Kit as your agent, so he will discuss the details of this with you. You are also going to ask for a good faith estimate of closing costs including lender fees at this point.

You now have what you need to make an offer on a house.

After you have a written agreement with a seller you can, if you wish, shop for a loan to get best rates, terms, and lender fees.

Call Kit with questions.