Buying a home is one of the biggest financial transactions people experience in their lives, so it’s no wonder financing is one of the biggest challenges buyers face when shopping for a new home. Even though the money components of home shopping can be stressful, the good news is there are steps you can take to ensure a smoother process and hopefully improve your odds of getting approved for your home loan.

1. Get Pre-Approved Early

If you want to be ready to make an offer on a home as soon as it hits the market, consider getting pre-approved or pre-qualified early in your home search. Having this pre-approval will help you move fast when you find the perfect home. It’s also typically the first thing an agent will ask you to do before helping you with your house-hunting journey. So getting it done before talking to an agent will show that you’re serious about buying and ready to start touring homes immediately.

The vast majority of people who financed their home with a mortgage in the last year got pre-approved (92 percent), but it’s when they got approved that is the real differentiator.

A little over a third (35 percent) of buyers got pre-approved before involving an agent, while 50 percent waited until they involved an agent before they got pre-approved. Buyers who use an agent are more likely to obtain pre-approval than those who don’t work with an agent, indicating pre-approval is either a prerequisite to securing an agent or highly recommended by their agent.

2. Get a Fully Underwritten Pre-Approval

If you want to take an extra step and do some work upfront to get your offer to stand out, consider asking your lender for a fully underwritten pre-approval. This will not only help speed up the mortgage process even more, but it will also show that you are a serious buyer who has been vetted.

During this process, a lender will verify the information in your mortgage application, your income, assets and debts, and send your loan through the underwriting process so that you can quickly get final approval for a loan once you’ve found your home and your offer has been accepted. So long as your financial condition and creditworthiness hasn’t changed since you were pre-approved, and the home meets other “closing conditions,” you’ll be approved for the loan.

Doing this work up front will allow you to close quickly, opposed to the sometimes-lengthy time frame of these steps once the offer is accepted.

Even though getting fully underwritten sounds like more work initially, you’ll have to go through this process in the later stages of the process anyways, so getting it out of the way early may save time in the long run and help you stand out.

3. Get Your Credit in Check

One of the most crucial components of getting approved for a home loan is your credit score. Not only does it have a huge financial impact by helping determine your interest rate, but lenders will also use this number to determine if you will be approved for a loan. Getting a firm grasp on how your credit is early in your home search could give you the time you need to improve it, if necessary.

Even if you think your score is good enough, it’s a good idea to get a copy of your credit report and take time to review it for any errors. Sometimes, boosting your credit score can be as simple as disputing errors. But if you catch them late, you may not have enough time to dispute before locking in your mortgage rate.

It’s also a good idea to not open any additional lines of credit to reduce further scrutiny from lenders.

4. Demonstrate Financial Stability

When lenders assess whether you qualify for a loan, they’re looking to make sure you’ll be able to repay the loan and not default. You can improve your chances of qualifying by demonstrating that you’re financially stable.

Limiting your spending is one of the easier ways to make sure your lender doesn’t find any red flags when reviewing your financial history. Lenders generally don’t like to see a number of big purchases recently made. And just as much as they don’t like seeing big purchases, they don’t want to see that you’ve missed payments either, so make sure your payments are on time.

To help ensure that you aren’t likely to miss payments, lenders like to see work consistency. If you’re able to, try not to change jobs during this process as the lender might think you no longer have the same funds to afford the mortgage.

5. Put More Down

Even though coming up with enough money for a down payment is often a buyers’ biggest hurdle during the buying process, if you’re able to make a larger down payment (of 20 percent or more), you might up your odds of getting approved.

A large down payment can show lenders you’re serious about buying and have the money to prove it. Outside of a larger down payment giving off the impression that you’re more trustworthy as a borrower to a lender, it can also reduce the loan-to-value ratio, which can increase your chances of getting approved for your loan.

Not only is a larger down payment a plus for lenders, but it can also help make your offer look more attractive to sellers and help them feel more confident that your financing is secure, which could help increase your odds of landing the home over someone else.

6. Move Quickly Once Your Offer Is Accepted

Unfortunately, there are a number of ways mortgages can fall through once your offer is accepted. But if you’re able to speed up the loan, inspection and appraisal periods, you might find yourself coming out ahead.

In some markets, the appraisal can take a particularly long time. So, to speed this process up, ask your lender to order the appraisal the day your offer on the home is accepted. Getting it done quickly may give you time to address any issues that arise.

For example, if the home is appraised for less than the sale price, you can still make concessions with the seller in hopes of getting the loan to go through. Some buyers find luck by paying the difference in cash, getting a second opinion on the appraisal or asking the seller to reduce the price of the home. If the buyer and seller can’t come to an agreement on one of these terms in time, the pending sale can fall apart.

Another step you can take to ensure a smooth, speedy process is to schedule your general home inspection as soon as your offer is accepted. That way if the inspector finds something wrong, you’ll have time to bring in a specialist to take a look. In competitive markets, some buyers even opt to do a pre-inspection to make their offers more competitive, while also removing potential obstacles that could prevent them from getting the house.

#1 Clean and Stow Your Mower

If you’re not familiar with fuel stabilizer, get to know it. If your mower sits for months with gas in its tank, the gas will slowly deteriorate, which can damage internal engine parts. Fuel stabilizer ($10 for a 10-ounce bottle) prevents gas from degrading.Add stabilizer to your gasoline can to keep spare gas in good condition over the winter, and top off your mower tank with stabilized gas before you put it away for the winter. Run the mower for five minutes to make sure the stabilizer reaches the carburetor.

#2 Remove Garden Hoses From Faucets

Remove garden hoses from outdoor faucets. Leaving hoses attached can cause water to back up in the faucets and in the plumbing pipes just inside your exterior walls. If freezing temps hit, that water could freeze, expand, and crack the faucet or pipes. Make this an early fall priority so a sudden cold snap doesn’t sneak up and cause damage. Turn off any shutoff valves on water supply lines that lead to exterior faucets. That way, you’ll guard against minor leaks that may let water enter the faucet.  While you’re at it, drain garden hoses and store them in a shed or garage.

#3 Drain Your Sprinkler System

Time to drain your irrigation system. Even buried irrigation lines can freeze, leading to busted pipes and broken sprinkler heads. If you don’t have drain valves, then hire an irrigation pro to blow out the system's pipes with compressed air. A pro is worth the $75 to $150 charge to make sure the job is done right, and to ensure you don’t have busted pipes and sprinkler head repairs to make in the spring.

1. Turn off the water to the system at the main valve. 

2. Shut off the automatic controller.

3. Open drain valves to remove water from the system.

4. Remove any above-ground sprinkler heads and shake the water out of them, then replace.

#4 Seal Air Leaks

Grab a couple of tubes of color-matched exterior caulk ($5 for a 12-ounce tube) and make a journey around  your home’s exterior, sealing up cracks between trim and siding, around window and door frames, and where pipes and wires enter your house. Preventing moisture from getting inside your walls is one of the least expensive — and most important — of your fall maintenance jobs. You’ll also seal air leaks that waste energy.

#5 De-Gunk Your Gutters

Clogged rain gutters can cause ice dams, which can lead to expensive repairs. After the leaves have fallen, clean your gutters to remove leaves, twigs, and gunk. Make sure gutters aren’t sagging and trapping water; tighten gutter hangers and downspout brackets. Replace any worn or damaged gutters and downspouts. Your downspouts should extend at least 5 feet away from your house to prevent foundation problems. If they don’t, add downspout extensions.

If you find colored grit from asphalt roof shingles in your gutters, beware. That sand-like grit helps protect shingles from the damaging ultraviolet rays of the sun. Look closely for other signs of roof damage; it may be time for a roofing replacement.

#6 Eyeball Your Roof

If you have a steep roof or a multistory house, stay safe and use binoculars to inspect your roof from the ground. Look for warning signs: Shingles that are buckled, cracked, or missing; rust spots on flashing. Any loose, damaged, or missing shingles should be replaced immediately. Black algae stains are just cosmetic, but masses of moss and lichen could signal roofing that’s decayed underneath. Call in a pro roofer for a $50 to $100 eval.

A plumbing vent stack usually is flashed with a rubber collar -- called a boot -- that may crack or loosen over time. They’ll wear out before your roof does, so make sure they’re in good shape. A pro roofer will charge $75 to $150 to replace a boot, depending on how steep your roof is.

#7 Direct Your Drainage

Take a close look at the soil around your foundation and make sure it slopes away from your house at least 6 vertical inches over 10 feet. That way, you’ll keep water from soaking the soils around your foundation, which could lead to cracks and leaks. Be sure soil doesn’t touch your siding.

#8 Check Your Furnace

Schedule an appointment with a heating and cooling pro to get your heating system checked and tuned up for the coming heating season. You’ll pay $50 to $100 for a checkup.

An annual maintenance contract ensures you’re at the top of the list for checks and shaves 20% off the cost of a single visit.

Change your furnace filters, too. This is a job you should do every two months anyway, but if you haven’t, now’s the time. If your HVAC includes a built-in humidifier, make sure the contractor replaces that filter.

#9 Prune Plants

Late fall is the best time to prune plants and trees -- when the summer growth cycle is over. Your goal is to keep limbs and branches at least 3 feet from your house so moisture won’t drip onto roofing and siding, and to prevent damage to your house exterior during high winds.

#10 Give Your Fireplace a Once-Over

To make sure your fireplace is safe, grab a flashlight and look up inside your fireplace flue to make sure the damper opens and closes properly. Open the damper and look up into the flue to make sure it’s free of birds’ nests, branches and leaves, or other obstructions. You should see daylight at the top of the chimney.

Check the firebox for cracked or missing bricks and mortar. If you spot any damage, order a professional fireplace and chimney inspection. An inspection costs $79 to $500. Your fireplace flue should be cleaned of creosote buildup every other year. A professional chimney sweep will charge $150 to $250 for the service.