Get pre-approved
Pre-qualified
Pre-qualification is quick. A lender takes a limited amount of information from you, often just what you tell them, and gives you an opinion of roughly how much you could borrow. It is useful for setting a budget before you start looking. It is only an opinion, though, and listing agents know that. When a seller has more than one offer to choose from, the buyer holding a pre-qualification letter can lose to the buyer who is pre-approved.
Pre-approved
Pre-approval takes more effort, and we think it is worth it. You find out what you can really borrow before you fall for a house at the wrong price. Your offer carries more weight, because the seller can see that a lender has already checked you out. And a good part of the lender’s work is done before you are under contract, which usually shortens the time it takes to fund the loan. That can let us offer the seller a quicker closing.
Expect to hand over thorough documentation, and expect the lender to verify it independently. They will want to see, among other things:
- Your job and career status
- Your income
- Your monthly debt payments
- Your total assets and debts
- The cash you have available
Lenders use these terms a little differently from one another, so ask yours what their letter means, whether an underwriter has reviewed your file, and how long the letter stays good. Pre-approval is still conditional. The loan also depends on the property, the appraisal, the title, and your finances staying the way they were when you applied.
Once you have the letter, send it to us so it can go in with your offer.
After your offer is accepted comes the application and processing.