Why should you get a preapproval letter before looking at any homes?

A pre-approval letter is written proof that your mortgage company is willing to lend you the money that you need in order to buy the house that you want.

In order to receive an official pre-approval from your lender, you must provide the lender with various documents like….

- Credit Report

- Pay Stubs

- Bank Statements

- Completed Mortgage Application

- Photo I.D.

- Tax Returns

These are the most common items that your lender will ask you for, but just know that your lender can ask you for other documents as well.

They have the right to do so, after all, they’re going to be lending you tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars! Once you have an official pre-approval, you can make offers with confidence.

Have you ever been in a situation where you hand a cashier your debit card so that you can pay for your purchase, only to be told that your card is declined? I have and it’s a very embarrassing situation.

Regardless of why the card has declined (expired, insufficient funds, max purchase limit reached, etc) it’s a huge waste of time to walk to decide what you want to purchase only to get to the register and walk away empty handed.

The home buying process is similar, only you can waste a LOT more time. Realtors are trained not to spend 2-3 weeks showing houses to a buyer, only for them to make an offer, get the offer accepted, and then find out that they don’t qualify.

Your time is valuable! Especially your agent because we don’t get paid by the hour!

Hopefully this will help you understand why it’s important to have a pre-approval letter before you start looking for a home. If you need help finding a lender right for you, please let us know and we’ll send you a few referrals for you to choose from.