If you've decided you're ready to purchase your own home in Clarksville, Tennessee, congratulations: it's now time to move on to the hard part: getting approved for a mortgage. Very few people, apart from the more adept traders of gold mutual funds and the independently wealthy, can afford to purchase a home outright. Therefore you'll need to get the backing of a bank or other mortgage lender behind you to close the deal. Here's some advice on securing that backing.

Shop Around

Shopping for a mortgage is a lot like shopping for the perfect pair of shoes to wear on a date. You want to a balance of features that fits your lifestyle and allows you to go where you want to with your life. Therefore you shouldn't just visit one lender. Even if your investments and actively managed ETFs are with one institution doesn't mean you won't get a better deal somewhere else.

Be a Good Risk

If you want number crunching bankers to say yes to your mortgage application, you have to seem like a good investment to the bank. Remember: to you this is personal but to them it is business. Therefore you'll want to have a steady job, keep up to date on your credit payments, and have no reportable problems with the bank who financed your last Arlington, Texas real estate purchase. All this will convince the bank you are willing and able to meet their payment schedule.

Get Pre Approved

Though you won't know the specific price of the home and cannot therefore actually take out a mortgage until you've selected a home, it is paramount that you get pre-approved before you set your heart on a property. Otherwise you might end up moving back into the Poughkeepsie, NY homes of your relatives when your mortgage application falls through and you are unable to close the sale on the house you wanted. To get pre-approved, submit your ballpark estimate to your bank.

Don't Overreach

There's more to affording a home than the income figures you plugged into the online mortgage calculator. Toronto to Clarkson moving expenses, inspection fees, taxes: these are all hidden costs that you must budget for. Taking out a mortgage that is too big for your income is what got us into a recession in the first place, so don't make the same mistake. Use the 20/30 rule: 20% saved for a down payment, 30% of your income set aside for mortgage payments.