Buying a home is one of the biggest investments in a person’s life. For this investment, most homebuyers apply for a mortgage loan. Although 75 percent of mortgage loan applications get accepted and approved, there is still that 25 percent of applicants who do not get to fulfill their dream of owning a house and need to reapply. The reasons behind these rejections are usually mistakes committed by the applicants. However, most of these are common mistakes made when getting a mortgage, and they are completely avoidable. Here are some of these mistakes and the ways to avoid them:

• Ignoring the annual percentage rate
  While researching the rates of interest online, you might come across two different terms: the annual percentage rate and mortgage rates. Before you get a mortgage loan, it is crucial to comprehend the main differences between both of them. Often, lenders try to lure customers by offering attractive mortgage rates, and a first-time buyer might fall for this. In fact, this is one of the most common mistakes made when getting a mortgage. However, understanding the mortgage rate is just half the story, and the APR gives out the actual cost of what you will be paying as it includes the processing fees and other charges. So, it is crucial to never ignore your APR when applying for a mortgage loan.
• Not providing the necessary documentation
  It is understandable how frustrating and time-consuming mortgage applications can be. There are so many documents that are needed from the applicant before applying for a loan as well as during the process. Too much paperwork can make the entire process cumbersome for the homebuyer. You could be asked to provide several documents, some of which you might have already submitted. All of this might end up in a delay or confusion, but you have to ensure that you understand the importance of all these documents and that they are delivered to the lender on time. A basic instance of a documentation mistake is the submission of incomplete bank statements. During the process of a mortgage loan application, homebuyers are asked to submit their bank statements. Most applicants scan the front pages of the statement only and forget to scan the rest, including the terms and conditions.
• Not checking the credit score beforehand
  When you do not check your credit before applying for a mortgage loan, you are taking a big risk. Simply put, you can and should avoid this common mistake when getting a mortgage by simply getting a free copy of your credit report from credit reporting agencies. The free credit report will not show your scores, and a detailed report comes with a charge, but you can identify any small credit problems with the free credit report and fix them before applying for the loan. These small issues do not take much of your time and can be resolved very quickly, but, if left unattended, these issues have the potential to cause delay or rejection of your loan.