A mortgage pre-approval means that the lender has examined your financials thoroughly and given you the go-ahead to look for a property within a certain price range.
Starting with a pre-approval allows for a more efficient and effective home search, as you know what is financially appropriate before you even look at your first home. This will also allow you to move quicker and with more confidence once you’ve identified a property. A pre-approval is different than a pre-qualification, with a pre-qualification none of your financial information has been verified upfront by the lender.
When you apply for your pre-approval there will be a fair amount of information that you will need to provide the lender. By providing this information upfront for your pre-approval, you will have done most of the heavy lifting needed to secure your final approval.
Once everything has been reviewed, your loan officer will inform you of your maximum allowable loan amount as well as any conditions associated with your final loan approval. Your loan officer will then be able to write you a pre-approval letter to be included with your offer package once you have found a home.
Personally, I prefer to write my customers a property specific approval letter that is dated and has the specific terms of their offer. That way I don’t say that they’re approved for more than they’re offering and jeopardize any leverage they have in negotiating a sales price. I feel this presentation is much more polished and lets the agents involved in the transaction know that you are serious and that you can perform on your contract offer.
Please feel free to contact me if you’re in the market for a new property of any kind or just have questions about financing.