The mortgage pre-approval process can take anywhere from 90 minutes to a week depending on market conditions. You'll be asked to fill out an application, and the lender will verify your employment and finances. They'll tell you which documents they'll need. You can move things along and close faster by doing some homework ahead of time.

Income and employment

If you earn a regular paycheck: The W-2 you receive in January each year from your employer is the preferred form of income verification.

If you're self-employed: You’ll need two years of records, including the Form 1099s you used to report income and file taxes for those two years, plus a year-to-date profit-and-loss statement.

If you have other forms of income: You may need to provide statements from your social security benefits or pension for the past three years.

Debts

To understand how much debt you have, your lender will calculate a debt-to-income ratio based on your monthly debt payments, including your auto loans, student loans, and credit cards. It is helpful to have a statement ready for each that shows:

Creditor's name and address

Your account number

Minimum payment amount

Current balance

If you have no credit history, collect records of your utility bills or other monthly payments and report them to the Experian app so that you can create a credit track record. Find out how to improve your credit score or build credit if you don't have any.

Assets

Assets are any accounts that have value, such bank or investment accounts. To document these, you'll need to provide:

Two months of bank statements

Two months of statements from investment accounts, such as stocks and bonds, IRAs, and CDs.

The most recent quarterly statement of your 401(k) plan, if you have one

Other records

Rent: Renters can show payments for the past 12 months and provide contact information for landlords for the past two years.

Divorce: Provide a court divorce decree and any court orders for child support and alimony payments. If you're using income from alimony to qualify for a loan, the income must be continuous for three years.

Bankruptcy and foreclosure: Ask your lender how long you should wait after bankruptcy or foreclosure to re-enter the housing market and what documents they'll need.

Down payment gift letters: Lenders will want to know how much money you have available for your down payment. You'll need to show the sources of the money you plan to use. If your funds include gifts, you'll need to get letters from your donors that specify the money is a gift and they don't expect to be paid back.

Most lenders have online portals to submit your documents so you don't have to print and provide physical copies. Once you've submitted these, you should hear back soon about your pre-approval, though the lender may need additional details before making a decision.