Start with the money, not the listings
Most buyers open a listings app first. It works better in the other order. A written pre-approval tells you what you can actually borrow, which changes which homes are worth touring and how a listing agent reads your offer.
A pre-approval generally needs pay stubs, W-2s, two months of bank statements, and a credit check. Lenders do not usually charge for one, and it does not commit you to borrowing from them.
Build your shortlist deliberately
Separate needs from wants before you tour a single home. Commute ceiling, school boundaries, bedroom count, and outdoor space are structural. You cannot renovate your way out of a bad location. Finishes, paint, and appliances are cosmetic and negotiable.
Tour at different times of day. A quiet street at 10am can be a cut-through corridor at 5pm.
Make an offer that can compete
Price gets attention, but terms win contracts. A clean offer with a solid earnest money deposit, a realistic closing date, and a pre-approval letter often beats a slightly higher offer with shaky financing behind it.
Your agent and your loan officer should speak before the offer goes in. Listing agents usually call the lender to test how real the financing is, and a lender who already knows the file gives a better answer.
From accepted offer to keys
Once you are under contract the clock starts: inspection in the first week or so, an appraisal ordered by the lender, and underwriting running in parallel. Purchase loans commonly take somewhere in the range of 25 to 35 days from contract to closing, though that varies with the property, the program, and how quickly documents arrive.
Three business days before closing you receive the Closing Disclosure. Compare it against your Loan Estimate. The lender fees should match and the third-party fees should be close. Then it is a final walk-through, signatures, and keys.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau publishes a free, side-by-side explanation of both forms at consumerfinance.gov if you want to read the fields before yours arrives.