"Boomerang" buyers are those who lost their eligibility to own a home because of a foreclosure or short sale, but are once again eligible to enter the market. At the start of the housing bust and through 2013, there were more than 5.3 million homeowners that lost their home because they were unable to afford their mortgages. Fortunately, many of these buyers have sat on the sidelines long enough and can once again qualify for an FHA loan.

According to CoreLogic, at least 3.4 million of the U.S households that fell victim to the housing bust have waited the mandatory period and are considering coming back to market. You can expect to see a number of these boomerang buyers searching for homes in your area. Although they are eligible for a home loan, they still may not qualify for one. This means that they will be looking for ways to get their financials in order before jumping back into homeownership.

Here are 7 tips to share with these hopeful buyers that will tighten up their wallet and make the dream of being homeowners a reality again!

1. Keep up with Your Own Credit

Checking their credit score will not harm their score, so they should be using sites like CreditKarma.com and AnnualCreditReport.com to pull their credit report. It can't be stressed enough that they review it closely for errors, because whether it's bankruptcy, foreclosure or short sale, it is common to find misreporting. If any misreporting is found, they should gather the proper documentation and contact all three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Transunion) to request its removal.