Loan Approval Process

[Valerie King]

I'm not yet ready to actually make a purchase. My goal is to obtain a duplex using an FHA loan once I've educated myself enough.

That said, when is the right time to walk into a bank and see what I'm preapproved for? Can I do this now just to know, even though I probably won't be making any investment until a year from now? Does getting preapproved for a loan negatively impact credit scores? If it does nothing bad, I think it'd be neat to have an idea early on about what's in my price range. (I know what I can afford budget wise and take that seriously, but knowing what the bank thinks is obviously a big deal) The bigger question is do I look for loan preapproval before or after I find a home I'm interested in?