If you're like most soon-to-be homeowners, you have to apply for a mortgage in order to pay the house you by off. Here are a few questions any mortgage lender should answer before you decide whether to work with them:

How Will You Determine My Qualifications?

It's important to get prequalified by your lender so you know how much money you will be able to spend on your new home. By getting prequalified, you'll receive a maximum borrow amount so you can ensure that you don't shop outside of your budget when searching for homes to make offers on.

Your lender will look at things such as your income, debt, and current financial obligations when determining what lending programs and loan amount you qualify for. So find out exactly what information will be used to determine your qualifications so you know how to prepare for filling out the prequalification applications.

Are Loan Rate Locks Offered?

Unfortunately, interest rates tend to change on a regular basis and if you aren't locked into your rates, you could end up facing rate hikes that are hard to keep up with as time goes on. So it is a good idea to make sure that the lender you choose to work with is able and willing to lock your initial interest rates in for the lifetime of your loan, even if you have to pay a fee for the privilege. Here's what you should find out from your lender:

• Will the rate lock protect all of the loan costs, or just the interest rates?

• How long will the rates be locked in before having to renew the lock?

• How will the rate lock be guaranteed?

Do You Charge a Prepayment Penalty?

It is also a good idea to find out what would happen if you wanted to pay your mortgage off early. Some lenders charge a prepayment penalty to those who want to pay their mortgage off early in order to recover some of the interest fees that are being lost due to the prepayment.

However, you shouldn't be punished for paying your loan off early and luckily there are plenty of lenders out there who allow the prepayment of a mortgage loan without charging any fees. So make sure that the mortgage lender you decide to work with doesn't charge a prepayment penalty of any kind.

Schedule an appointment with your local mortgage lender to have these questions and more answered before you apply for your loan.