What are the do’s and don’t for qualifying for a mortgage?

Here's the good news: You probably can qualify for a mortgage. The possible bad news is that you may have to impose some self-discipline to get where you want to be.
This is so important I’m going to list it twice. Pay your bills on time. There is no single element that can so dramatically impact the success of an application as your credit history.
So now for the list of do’s and don’ts.
Five do's1. Make loan and other debt payments on time, especially over the months leading up to the filing of your mortgage application. It sounds simple, but every 30-, 60- or 90-day delinquency on a loan or credit card is going to reduce the credit score the lender ends up considering as part of the loan file. That score, in turn, will determine how good a loan you get -- if you get one at all.

2. If something has to be missed, miss the credit card payment first, followed by the payment on any installment loan you might have and finally, the payment for an existing mortgage. That's because credit scoring systems look at the performance of similar loans first when deciding what type of score to assign. It will give the most weight to the performance of another mortgage, for example, than the performance of something like an auto loan, which features fixed payments and a fixed rate the way many mortgages do. Lastly, it would evaluate the payment performance of so-called "revolving" loans, like credit cards, which feature variable payments that fluctuate with the outstanding balance.
If you had to prioritize -- and I would hope you wouldn't be in that situation -- pay your mortgage loans, pay your installment loans, pay your revolving loans.

3. Consider paying off more debt and putting down a smaller amount at closing. The move leaves borrowers with larger mortgages, but it will allow them to replace non tax-deductible, high-interest rate debt with lower-rate mortgage debt that features deductible interest.
4. Get the mortgage first if multiple financial obligations are going to pop up in the near future. Numerous credit inquiries, such as new applications for credit cards, can hurt a borrower's credit score, especially if they're filed in the months prior to the home loan review process.
5. Increase the size of the down payment you're able to make by saving as much as possible, as often as possible. Don't put the savings into something volatile, such as an individual stock. But evaluate money market or other accounts that offer reasonable rates of return, automatic payroll deductions or other financial incentives to save.
It depends on how much you have saved already, but I think it's important to take a portion of each month's income and set it aside for the down payment

While these are all good steps to follow, borrowers have to think of what they shouldn't do as well. The five don’t’s will be in my next article.