What information is required to get preapproved?

If you are applying for a mortgage, have following information ready to give to your mortgage professional:

- Employment information: Company name, job title, length at job, gross monthly income. If you are self employed, have your CPA write a letter stating the line of work you're self employed in and for how long.
- Insurance information: Have you insurance agent's information handy. Your mortgage professional will have to order evidence of insurance.
- Banking information: Any bank accounts that you have balances with, including 401k, IRA, money market, mutual funds, etc.
- Liabilities information: Know your liabilities and your monthly obligations.

Also, be upfront with your mortgage professional on any past credit problems you may have had. He/she will find out sooner or later throughout the process so it is better to be upfront to your mortgage professional.

If you have difficult to prove income or are self employed there are mortgages that only require you to state your income and verify employment. These mortgages are called stated income loans and the documentation required to get preapproved is very minimal. Although due to the lack of documentation you will have a higher interest rate.

If you have co-signed for a loan, you will want to make your loan officer aware of any such debts. You may be able to provide documentation which will allow the lender to disregard the co-signed loan in terms of your debt ratio.

- Income confirmation. This will be used to determine how large a mortgage payment you can handle. Income confirmation documents can include a letter from your employer, T4 slips, and financial statements.
- Down payment confirmation. This will be used to confirm the difference between your proposed purchase price and the amount of the mortgage loan. Your down payment can include saved funds on deposit with your financial institution, RRSPs, a gift from an immediate family member, and/or equity from the sale of another property.
- Credit application. The credit application will provide your mortgage professional with information they need to assess your mortgage request and net worth. It will also let your mortgage professional request a credit bureau check.
- Credit confirmation. Your mortgage professional will do a credit investigation and confirm that your credit rating is acceptable for a mortgage.

If you are getting gift funds to help purchase your home, let your mortgage professional know at the time of pre-approval. Your mortgage professional will let you know what is needed to document the gift funds in the transaction. Often times, family members are hesitant to provide extensive documentation for gift funds. It is important to know exactly what needs to be documented so you can properly manage expectations.

Once you provide all of the financial information your mortgage broker can determine the amount that a lender would provide and issue a pre-approval letter. Sellers will look at you as a more serious buyer when you already have a pre-approval letter.

Getting pre-approved is much more in depth that getting pre-qualified. If another mortgage professional does not ask for everything or most of what is listed on this page in order to get you pre-approved, then chances are you are simply being pre-qualified. A pre-approval actually goes through underwriting with an underwriter most of the time and you are issued a loan approval based on the home and the appraisal being satisfactory. With only obtaining a pre-qualification, this has higher percentages of many consumers experiencing troubles at closing or before closing and have their closings delayed when things go wrong because the mortgage professional did not ask for all of the proper documentation upfront.

» DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this article on 'What information is required to get preapproved?' 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.