Credit Reports - Applying for a Mortgage

[John Paul Whaley]

Hello BP Community

I am preparing to get pre approved for a mortgage. I have waited to get pre approved until I am absolutely sure that I am ready to buy, since I don’t want my pre approval to expire and suffer another credit hit after it does. 

My question is this:

Can I send an application to multiple lenders and only suffer one hard credit pull on my report? It is my understanding from online research that I can submit as many applications as I want, because multiple hard credit pulls for a mortgage application will have the same affect as one hard credit pull.

Am I understanding this correctly, and does anyone have any suggestions for applying for a loan (North Carolina)?

Thanks!