new mortgage, understand that you may run into some difficulties. one of the first things to do is obtain a copy of your credit report for all three major agencies. this gives you a good idea of what kind of problems you may be up against. in some areas, it may cost nothing for the report. once you have the reports in hand, go over them. you might have some circumstances that you wish to let others know about. for example, you may have a lot of lost work time due to an injury or illness. perhaps a family member has a major illness and medical bills have been the 