If you’re getting ready to buy a home, it’s exciting to jump a few steps ahead and think about moving in and making it your own. But before you get too far down the emotional path, there are some key things to keep in mind after you apply for your mortgage and before you close. Here’s a list of things to remember when you apply for your home loan.

One of the first steps in your homebuying journey is getting pre-approved. To understand why it's such an important step, you need to understand what pre-approval is and what it does for you. Business Insider explains:

Over the past two years, the substantial imbalance of low housing supply and high buyer demand in the Boston area pushed home sales and buyer competition to new heights. But this year, things are shifting as supply and demand reach an inflection point.

The graph below helps tell the story of just how different things are today.

Last week, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate from Freddie Mac inched up to 3.1%, and experts project rates will continue rising through 2022: