To determine your maximum mortgage amount, lenders use guidelines called debt-to-income ratios.

There are a couple of different options available if you're closing on your new home before you sell your current home.

Developed by Fair Isaac & Company, the credit score (often referred to as the FICO score) is a measure of your credit worthiness. The higher your credit score means the more credit worthy you are considered to be.

Each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies are required, by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, to provide you with a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months.

The "personal information" section is self-explanatory: your name, address, employer, social security number, etc. Check this information carefully and make sure it's accurate.

Pay your bills in full and on time. Late payments and collections can have a serious impact on your score. With credit cards, always pay at least the minimum on time.

A Quality Credit Rating. Generally, "A Credit" is considered a FICO score of 620 or above. These are credit reports with very few or no late payments and particularly, no mortgage late payments which are an immediate red flag to lenders.

This is one of the reasons we recommend that you do your "lender shopping" in a short time frame. In addition, the market changes from day to day, so taking weeks or months to find a lender doesn't make much sense

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Many entrepreneurs and inventors have heard of going to a venture capital fund (VC) for financing. Sadly many of them are quickly frustrated with the process and walk away discouraged. Others that do receive VC funding become disappointed later when they loose control over the direction of their company or figure out that they gave up more % of ownership than they thought they were going to. From many of these experiences VCs have earned a bad reputation and are often referred to as vulture capitalists.