Before You Start Visiting Homes With Your Agent:

BEFORE YOU START VISITING HOMES WITH YOUR AGENT
GET A PRE-QUALIFICATION LETTER FROM A LENDER
This is the first step in the mortgage process.
A mortgage pre-qualification is an estimate of your borrowing power. You’ll supply an overview of your financial history to the lender. It relies on your verbal information only. It usually doesn’t require documentation of your financial history. Receiving “pre-qualification” can be accomplished fairly simply by just a phone call to the lender. The lender will review this information to give you an estimate of what you may qualify for.
You should have this to show your agent and seller that you’re a serious homebuyer. This allows us to focus on homes in a realistic price range and makes best use of time.
GET A PRE-APPROVAL LETTER FROM A LENDER
It’s a statement from a lender that you qualify for a specific mortgage amount based on an underwriter’s review of all of your financial information: credit report, pay stubs, bank statement, salary, assets and obligations.
If you’re not pre-approved and you find a home you want to make an offer on, you’re taking a gamble. Realtors® and sellers are less willing to accept offers from a buyer without a pre-approval. Odds are, they’ll go on to the next offer—and you’ll miss out. Having a pre-approval letter makes a stronger impression on sellers that you have the cash to back up an offer. This may give you an advantage over other buyers in a multiple-offer situation.
***No matter which path you prefer, pre-approval or pre-qualification, the first step is to contact a lender and discuss your needs and get the lender’s letter of your choice.
You should understand that neither a “pre-qualification letter” nor “pre-approval” are viewed as absolute, iron-clad loan committments from lenders.