Whether you want to buy now, while the pandemic rages on, or wait until the all-clear is finally sounded by medical professionals, it’s smart to line up your financing as soon as possible. Or at least, do all the spadework necessary to find the best rates with the best lender.

Before you start your search, though, take a hard look at your credit record. That’s what your all-important credit score is based on.

A score is a point-in-time snapshot of how you use credit, and lenders consider it the Holy Grail. The higher your score, the lower the interest rate you’ll be offered. Conversely, the lower the score, the higher the rate -- if you’re approved at all. And most lenders, though certainly not all, are currently taking only those applicants with the highest scores.

Many credit reports are riddled with errors -- 1 in 5, the Federal Trade Commission found. Your file may contain the wrong name or address, for example, or list accounts that belong to someone with a similar name. Closed accounts could still be reported as open, accounts may be inaccurately labeled as delinquent, or an incorrect credit limit could be listed.

You can obtain a credit report for free every 12 months from each of the three national credit repositories -- Experian, TransUnion and Equifax -- at annualcreditreport.com or by calling 877-322-8228. If you find something wrong, address it immediately; mistakes can take several months to get corrected. For more on requesting corrections, go to consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0151-disputing-errors-credit-reports.

If your score could use a boost, take a look at online programs that can help. Experian has a program that allows you to add utility and telecom bills to your credit file, giving your score an immediate boost.

Some lenders offer free programs -- Score Wizard is one; Wayfinder, another -- that offer insight into what steps you should and should NOT take to raise your score. They are “what-if” programs that let you test various scenarios.

For example, bringing your credit balances down to 30% or less of your available credit is always a good way to raise your score. It shows that you use your credit wisely and are not too much in debt. But paying off years-old debt to remove it from your record isn’t so smart, because it makes the issue more current -- older problems tend to fade into the background.

Unfortunately, most what-if programs aren’t available directly to consumers, only through lenders. But there’s no law that says you have to continue with that lender if you find one offering a better deal.

Toward that end, align yourself with a good mortgage broker. There’s nothing wrong with applying at your bank, but remember that the loan officer there works for that institution alone. He or she can only offer that bank’s products.

Brokers, on the other hand, deal with a cadre of lenders and, therefore, are able to root out the best deals, whether on rates or service. Companies like United Wholesale Mortgage and Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions, both of which are now back in the market, work only through brokers.

Taking a homebuying class could also increase your odds of gaining approval, and may even help you nail a slightly lower rate. Many are now being offered virtually. Education about the process isn’t just for uninitiated first-timers; the market has changed so much that some schooling is also good for move-up or move-down owners who haven’t taken out a mortgage in 10 or 20 years.

It might also be a good idea to work with a housing counselor: a financial adviser who empowers consumers to take charge of their finances. They address credit card debt, student loans and money management, as well as housing decisions, and most work for free.

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling has a network of member offices in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Or you can go to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s website to find a government-certified counselor in your area. You can search by ZIP code at consumerfinance.gov/find-a-housing-counselor.

If you are unable to accumulate the 20% down payment that lenders like JPMorgan Chase are now requiring, consider applying at the Bank of Mom and Dad. Chances are, they needed some help along the way themselves.

According to the National Association of Realtors, a third of all first-time buyers received monetary help from family or friends. Apartment List, a rental-matching service, says 27% of millennials are planning to ask for monetary gifts and loans from their parents this year. And they’re not the only ones: Clever Real Estate reports that 19% of Gen Xers and 14% of boomers ask for monetary help, too.

Help with your down payment and closing costs are also available from other sources. According to Down Payment Resource, most of the 2,400 programs it tracks are open for business. Only 34 programs have shut down temporarily because of COVID-19. And all state Housing Finance Agencies are accepting reservations virtually.

As a result of the pandemic, though, credit standards and other requirements have changed. So make sure your broker or real estate agent is informed about lenders that participate in these programs.

Just as quickly as the COVID-19 pandemic bolted across the country, that’s how fast the financing situation has changed for homebuyers. And whether the mortgage market will return to “normal” once the scourge subsides is anybody’s guess.

During the first 90 days of the year, the housing market was humming along at breakneck speed. Both existing and new home sales were up -- 5.5% for existing houses and 7% for new construction -- over the first quarter of 2019, and the money to finance those purchases was not only plentiful, but relatively cheap.

Since then, mortgage rates have slipped even lower. But lenders have tightened their underwriting rules to the point where only the best prospects -- those with the most cash for a down payment and the highest credit scores -- can qualify. And the new, stricter rules are likely to remain in place until the economy gets back on its feet -- months, or even years, from now.

By the end of April, the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage had slid to 3.23%, according to Freddie Mac. That’s the lowest since the mortgage investor began tracking rates in 1971, and down almost a full percentage point from 4.14% a year ago. Better yet, Fannie Mae, another government-chartered investor in home loans, predicted the rate would fall below 3% by 2021’s second quarter and remain there the rest of the year.

Lower rates mean buyers can choose between more house or smaller monthly payments. But that hinges on whether they can qualify -- and only the best prospects can currently do that, because of the stiffened rules at some of the country’s largest lenders.

JPMorgan Chase has stopped taking anyone with a credit score under 700. And don’t apply at Chase if you don’t have at least a 20% down payment. First Horizon Bank has hiked its minimum credit score to 670, and no jumbo loans (mortgages above $510,400) are available there or at Wells Fargo, among others. Chase also has stopped making home equity loans.

Other lenders also have tightened, albeit “less publicly,” the Urban Institute reports. And the bipartisan think tank expects even more tightening in the weeks ahead. That would be on top of what the Mortgage Bankers Association says is an already dramatically constricting availability of credit.

A look at the unemployment and mortgage forbearance numbers shows why. As of May 21, some 38.6 million Americans had filed for unemployment benefits. That’s more than a quarter of the entire workforce, and the highest level since the Great Depression almost a century ago.

As of May 18, more than 8% of all mortgage borrowers -- an estimated 4.3 million homeowners -- are asking to be placed into a forbearance plan, meaning they can’t make their house payments and want some relief. That share among people with government-backed loans is even higher, at 10%. Furthermore, many states have banned foreclosures, at least for the time being.

The record layoffs are driving an unprecedented spike in missed rent and mortgage payments. Apartment List’s mid-May report found that 31% of households failed to make their full May rent or mortgage payments, up from 24% in April. Worse, of those who were able to make their full housing payment on time in April, 16% had yet to pay anything in May.

Frank Nothaft, chief economist at data analytics firm CoreLogic, thinks the situation will get worse before it gets better. Without additional policy efforts to help borrowers in financial distress, he estimates a “four-fold increase in the serious delinquency rate” by the second half of next year.

Consequently, most lenders are being extremely cautious. “Lenders are tightening their credit criteria to account for the higher likelihood of forbearance and delinquencies,” says Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American, a provider of title insurance and settlement services.

“While it is technically possible to buy a home without human contact,” agrees Keith Gumbinger of HSH Associates, a mortgage reporting company, “it’s still not possible to buy a house without income or when on unemployment.”

That doesn’t mean you won’t be able to find financing. Some lenders are still in the market. Movement Mortgage, a top-10 lender that closed more loans in April than during any month in its history, is actually lowering its rates as well as its minimum credit score.

Elsewhere, United Wholesale Mortgage, another major source of financing, is offering rates as low as 2.5% to borrowers who work with independent loan brokers -- but only for conventional mortgages at or below $510,400. And Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions, another wholesale lender, is back in the market with loans that don’t meet conventional standards -- as long as you have 20% down.

Whether the rest of the mortgage market will loosen up, either soon or once the virus is under control, remains to be seen. But when the all-clear is sounded, it’s a safe bet that any changes will happen slowly -- until unemployment subsides and people go back to work.

Next week: Line up financing now.

For all the personal and financial damage the coronavirus pandemic has caused, it has also given new impetus to what had been a slow-moving trend toward healthier homes. And it’s easy to see why.

As we stay at home to avoid contamination, we tend to worry -- not just about the dangers outside, but about how safe we are inside our dwellings, and what we can do to protect ourselves.

“We feel threatened about our own personal safety, as well as that of our close family members,” says behavioral psychologist Mary Campbell, who also is the mayor of Hermosa Beach, California. “And the best thing we can do is figure out how to get a handle on it. When we are in such a state, all we want is a lifeline.”

Healthy and sustainable living have been a slowly growing shift in homebuilding and community design in recent years, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Irvine, California. Think community gardens, the farm-to-table movement, fitness on demand and so on.

Now, the Burns group believes the movement will lurch “into hyperspeed,” according to a recent press release, and the latest research from Green Builder Media seems to bear that out. In tracking web and social media content, the company’s research wing, Cognition Smart Data, found the number of discussions specific to health and wellness has skewed “exponentially” higher. At first, the discussions were negative, with concern about COVID-19. But now, people are talking about minimizing their risk and staying healthy.

“People are looking for ways to default to hope and optimism,” says Green Builder’s Sara Gutterman.

After the 2008 recession, energy conservation became top-of-mind and has remained there ever since, Gutterman points out. Now it’s health and welfare, and she expects the topic to remain a key focus going forward. “We didn’t go backward then, and we won’t go back this time, either,” she says.

The online discourse is taking many forms. People are talking about mental health, stress relief, telemedicine, smart technology, on-site energy production, food safety and resiliency. Searches for “calming quotes” have doubled; “stress quotes” searches have tripled.

But interest in indoor air quality has exploded. “IAQ is now as important as location to some homebuyers. Says Gutterman, “Indoor air quality has shifted quickly from ‘nice to have’ to a necessity. It’s the belle of the ball.”

Fortunately, IAQ is one thing homeowners and buyers can do something about, even if not easily or inexpensively. But if we’re serious about improving the quality of our indoor air, we can do so.

That’s a good thing, because we don’t take care of our houses nearly as well as we should, says Caroline Blazovsky, a healthy home expert. As CEO of My Healthy Home in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, she has investigated more than 30,000 houses nationwide for people with health issues. “Treat a home like a doctor treats a patient,” she advises.

Some remedies are as simple as leaving your shoes outside when you enter your house, keeping the water heater at the correct temperature, opening windows for ventilation, changing HVAC filters regularly and leaving toilet lids down, especially when you flush.

There are numerous more expensive technology solutions available, too. Everything from whole-house dehumidifiers -- humidity has a big impact on health, according to one study -- to touchless faucets, and from HVAC disinfectors to energy-recovery ventilation products. You can even buy automatic toilet seats.

But before you lay out any money, Blazovsky suggests having your house tested by a healthy home expert. “Test first, before you do anything,” she says.

At one home Blozavsky tested, for example, the owner wasn’t feeling well, but the cause was a mystery. Finally, she discovered that a person working inside the house was a horse owner, and was bringing horse proteins inside with her, triggering symptoms in the homeowner.

That’s just one way your indoor air quality can be impacted. We can bring all kinds of particles indoors with us: gasoline, dander, animal proteins, volatile organic compounds, formaldehydes, flame retardants and pesticides, to name a few.

“Our bodies are filled with a plethora of problems,” says Blazovsky. “Radon, mold, formaldehyde and high VOCs are just some that may not only be potential carcinogens, but also cause inflammation in the body.”

If you are building a new house, you should be careful about what products are going into your place. Unless your building company calls itself a healthy homebuilder -- and can prove it -- you’ll have to do your own research. Blazovsky’s advice: “Think about health and wellness holistically, and build as naturally as possible.”

“This is where the industry is going,” she says. “Sometimes buyers have more knowledge than their builders.”

Talk to green-building consultants, builders and architects, and start asking questions. Also, check out groups such as the Healthy Building Network and the Energy and Environmental Building Alliance, and look online for residential environmental consultants.