There are several advantages to getting mortgage pre-approval before looking for a home.

Being pre-approved for a loan lets you know how much you can borrow towards a home, your agent can help you find a home within the loan amount you're pre-approved for, and a seller of a home is more likely to accept your offer than someone who has not been pre-approved for a loan yet.

Your lender will review your credit, financial, and employment information during the mortgage pre-approval process after you fill out an application.

Once you qualify for a loan, you will receive a mortgage approval letter. It will contain a maximum loan amount you're approved for and how much time you have to use the loan. This is your bank's guarantee of the amount they will lend you toward the purchase of a home.

When you are ready to negotiate a price for a home, the seller will be more willing to accept your offer because you already have financing available. A seller would be more reluctant to accept an offer from someone who doesn't have the money yet to buy the home, because the offer can fall through if the buyer can't come up with the money at the time of closing.

The advantages of having mortgage pre-approval puts you in a better position to look for houses that you can afford because you already know how much money you can borrow and you already have financing in place when negotiating a price for a home.

Michelle Roebuck provides mortgage and home buying advice for people with bad credit at http://www.find-bad-credit-mortgage-loans.com. Sign up for her newsletter at http://www.find-bad-credit-mortgage-loans.com/newsletter.html.