The way credit inquiries are categorized by lenders can have a big impact on a loan applicant’s chances of getting the best mortgage possible.

Q: I have a good credit record, so I get two or three unsolicited offers every week for pre-approved credit cards. You have written that people who have their credit report checked too often can lower their credit score. Does this mean that every time a card company checks my report to determine whether it should offer me a card, my overall credit score goes down a little? Please Answer me quickly, because I am planning to get a new mortgage soon and want to obtain the best terms possible.

A: You don’t have anything to worry about. The type of credit inquiry you’re asking about is what lenders call a “soft hit” on your report, which has no impact on your overall score.

Most types of these harmless soft hits involve inquiries that you did not initiate yourself. The best example is the very type of inquiry you’re asking about – requests by lenders to determine whether they should send you an unsolicited offer for a new mortgage or credit card.

Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, such inquiries cannot affect your credit score if you simply throw the resulting preapproved offer in the trash. But if you accept the offer, your score would certainly be affected by the way you handle the newly opened loan or credit account in the future.

Conversely, too many “hard hits” on your report – inquiries that you personally initiate in an attempt to obtain new credit – can indeed affect your credit score and sometimes affect a lender’s willingness to offer you a mortgage or card in the future.

Many bankers get nervous if they see more than two or three recent hard hits in your credit file, because it means that you have applied for new credit accounts that might not have appeared on your report yet. A lender certainly might balk at approving you for a big mortgage today if it was worried that the other credit accounts you recently applied for are a harbinger of a borrowing binge that could make it difficult to meet your future housing expenses.

Your letter states that you’re planning to apply for a new mortgage soon. So, be on the safe side: Don’t apply for any other new accounts, even those tempting preapproved credit-card offers, until after the home loan is made.

Q: We had two skylights installed in our living room last year, but they started leaking when the rain came a couple of months ago. The contractor who installed them has come out twice to make repairs, but they continue to leak when it rains. What can we do now?

A: Skylights can really make a big difference in a room, but they’re very difficult to fix if they weren’t properly installed from the get-go.

Ask the contractor to replace the leaking skylights with brand-new ones. If he balks at doing the job or you can’t work out a suitable financial arrangement to pay for the work, you could hire a new contractor and then sue the old one in small claims court.

It’s important to correct the problem immediately. Leaking skylights often lead to warping or buckling in the ceiling itself, which can push the cost of repairs even higher. More water damage also could result in additional loss of property and might even lead to dangerous mold or mildew problems that can be extremely difficult to remedy.

Q: I own a condominium in another state. If I wanted to form the type of living trust that you sometimes write about, would I have to create one trust for the property I own here and a second trust for the out-of-state condo? I think that creating two trusts would complicate matters, not simplify them.

A: Only one trust would be needed. Forming and putting both your in-state and out-of-state property into it would probably be a good idea.

Millions of people across the U.S. have purchased or inherited a home, land or other property in a different state. When they die, their estate must usually go through separate probate proceedings – one for each state in which the properties are located.

People who create a simple living trust, however, can usually avoid the costly and time-consuming probate process altogether. So instead of making your heirs suffer through multiple probate hearings, forming a single trust to hold both your in-state and out-of-state property would likely allow your beneficiaries to inherit it all quickly and inexpensively.

David W. Myers is a 20-year veteran of the newspaper and magazine business, having previously covered real estate for the Los Angeles Times and Investor’s Business Daily.