@Cloudlb wrote:I know when you are car shopping, it's best to shop for a loan within a two-week period or so, so they count as one pull, but the rule doesn't seem t me as clear cut in mortgage loan shopping, which can be a longer process, I guess. I do see many people complaining about too many HPs on their credit just when they need to keep their score high to apply for home financing.
So, how can you minimize the pulls on your credit during the mortgage shopping process? What are the appropriate points along the way for this to happen. I wil probably get pre-qualed tomorrow for house shopping -- can they do this without running a credit report? If I decide to actually get preapproved or apply for a loan, can I do it with various lenders or through a mortgage broker within the next couple of weeks without it dinging my score too much?
Whatever you do, don't get multiple pre-approvals... if your loan takes more than 45 days to close you'll experience a major score drop due to the inquiries.
If your realtor will let you shop for houses without being pre-approved, that's what I would do. You can use bank rate calculators to get a rough estimate of what you're likely to be pre-approved for, and they will give you a range. As long as you shop for something below the bottom range, you should be ok. Once you find the house, then you can get pre-approved... go ahead and have copies of everything already scanned into your PC so that you can quickly email them or drop a file off to the lender. You can go ahead and chat with a lender and have them prepared, but don't let them pull credit.
My experience was horrible... 15 HPs on each bureau just to get 1 mortgage.
FICO 9: 
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.
Goal: Gardening!
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.
Goal: Gardening!
