Pre-approve

Lender commits to lend to a potential borrower; commitment remains as long as the borrower still meets the qualification requirements at the time of purchase.

Gaining pre-approval prior to looking for a home can help you to better know what you qualify for as well as giving you more leverage when making offers.

Mortgage pre approval should always be done prior to home searching as it will give you a true assessment of what price range of home you can afford.

Pre-Approval is commonly used to indicate that a borrower has completed a loan application and provided their debt, total income, and savings information which was reviewed and pre-approved by an underwriter.

Not only is pre-approval important when working with a real estate agent, it is very important if you are looking at homes that are being sold by owner. The first question an owner will ask when you call on a "for sale by owner" home is "have you been approved for a mortgage?” They do not want to waste their time showing their home to someone who can not afford it or who can not get a loan.

The lender will pre-approve an applicant afer confirming their credit and income information meets their lending guidelines. An approval is when a lender confirms credit, income and collateral confirms to their lending guidelines.

A pre-approval certificate is basically a loan approval without the property information. It is contingent upon the outcome of the appraisal report. The purchase price of the home must be supported by the appraised value.

A preapproval has an expiration date. If the dream home is not found by the expiration date, simply have your loan officer re-submit your credit documents for an extention on the preapproval.

A pre-approval letter will contain a loan amount you have been approved for. You should take this amount add your down payment and start shopping for your dream home.

Once you have your pre-approval, you will want to make sure that you do not take on any more debt or fall back on any payments you currently have. A lender has the right to withdraw a pre-approval if there are any changes to your financial status.

A pre-approval is based on the information provided to the lender. If any of that information changes or is found to be inaccurate, that pre-approval can be withdraw. Some of the more common reasons for withdrawal of pre-approval are change or loss of employment, increase in debt, reduction in credit score because of late payments, and reduced cash reserves.

A pre-approval and a pre-qualification are two different things. A preapproval letter is much stronger than a prequalification letter. Being pre-qualified means that you meet some of the basic criteria for a loan and there has not really been a full application completed and you are not approved with any specific lender. A pre-approval means that you have completed a full application and you have actually been approved with a specific lender. When you receive direct mail at home stating you are pre-qualified for a loan just call our office now to get "the ball rolling", this prequalification simply may mean that you met this companies most basic requirements that allowed them to send the letter to you. However after you call in and complete a loan application and the mortgage consultant calls you back to let you know you have been approved for a loan, this is your pre-approval.

Most preapprovals are done electronically and done the same day. We will be able to take an application, enter your information to get the approval needed. Then we will issue you a letter confirming that you have been approved for a mortgage to your realtor to strengthen your offer to purchase a property.

A Real Estate agent will often ask for a pre-approval letter before presenting an offer to the home seller.

In addition, a home buyer who has bee pre-approved has the good faith knowledge that they are dealing with a mortgage broker or mortgage professional who knows their products and has found them the best mortgage program for their needs.

» DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this article on 'Pre-approve' is a collection of contributions by licensed mortgage professionals and is not the opinion of Broker Outpost LLC. Always consult a licensed professional before applying for a mortgage.