Why is getting pre-approved for a mortgage important?

A pre-approval letter is a document provided by a licensed loan officer stating that a buyer can afford a property purchase up to a specific amount. Essentially, it answers the question that many sellers have when talking to potential buyers: Are You Good For It?

What are some specific benefits of getting pre-approved?

• As a potential home buyer, a pre-approval letter gives your offer credibility: Offers from pre-approved buyers carry more weight…because a home finance professional is putting their stamp on what that buyer can afford. It’s so important that some sellers won’t even waste their time showing their home to buyers UNLESS their pre-approved.
• A pre-approval letter means, you’ve taken a big first step towards securing financing…putting your offer ahead of the pack: Remember that most sellers want to close the sale asap. Getting a pre-approval letter early helps you front-load a lot of the work on the financing side…giving you an advantage over other buyers. When you see a property that fits your needs, you want to be able to make an offer quick. HOT TIP: if the seller has already vacated the property, they’re losing money every second it’s on the market. That puts a buyer who’s able to close the sale quickly, in an amazing negotiating position to ask for price reductions or credits towards closing costs.
• Some mortgage experts (ahem!) know the right buttons to push: For example, when our clients make an offer, we make a call to the property’s listing agent re-assuring our confidence in the buyers finances and that the loan can fund within the necessary timelines. At offer time, this goes a long way because of our reputation for reliable pre-approvals and getting deals funded on time.

Is there a difference between pre-approval and pre-qualification?

Unfortunately, these terms get used interchangeably often. They both relate to the assessment of a homebuyer’s finances by a mortgage professional to see how much a buyer can afford. The main difference is that a pre-approval requires that the mortgage pro actually sees documentation verifying the buyers finances. Some pre-qualifications may only be based on the buyer’s self-reported finances. If you are serious about buying a home, these docs will be needed at some point in the process, so we prefer to get them sooner. That way we can provide a reliable pre-approval letter that will reduce problems further into the homebuying process (when issues and delays are typically MUCH more costly).

How do I get pre-approved?

Easy. Just go here. If you’re curious what it’s like, see how a past client explains our process in his Yelp Review:

“Once we submitted the online application and sent her the necessary docs she got back to us with a pre-approval letter the very next day. We were so stoked we were able to start looking for homes that weekend. Julie even made calls to the seller to assure them of our qualifications and champion our offer.

Who does that?!?!?”

Dave D. from Yelp

…and if you’re keeping score at home, the answer to Dave’s question is: We do that.

So, when you’re ready, check out our easy loan application so we can get you pre-approved.

PS Also, check out our simple eval process where you can choose whether you want to: get real rates specific for your scenario (beware of teaser rates!), see how much home you can afford, or quickly submit your contact info so we can get back in touch.