Why am I Being Asked to Get Pre-Qualified?

A common question I see is “why has <agent name> asked me to get pre-qualified before they will show me homes I want to purchase?”

What is a pre-approval*? A mortgage pre-qualification letter helps you understand how much house you can afford, makes you more attractive to sellers and alerts you to problems that may affect your ability to get a loan. To get pre-qualified, you’ll need to fill out my loan application, provide income documentation and other documents to verify your personal, employment and financial information.

When you’re shopping for a home, it is very easy to get caught up in the excitement of the search. How much home can you afford? Will you qualify for your ideal monthly payment? What is your actual maximum mortgage payment? Is your debt-to-income ratio too high?

After you submit your loan application, you will hear from me regarding your pre-qualification. All of the above questions will be answered and you and your real estate agent will receive a pre- qualification package. This package will show you your maximum loan amount, your down payment required, the loan program and other information needed. This package is then submitted with every offer you submit with your REALTOR®.

Just because you are shown your pre-qualified maximum, you don’t need to only look at homes in that price range. You are free to search for homes at that amount or lower. It’s up to you to determine your budget and where you’d like your mortgage payment to be.

Your Offer May Be More Competitive

When you submit an offer, if you have a pre- qualification letter, it lets sellers know a Loan Officer such as myself has reviewed your current financial situation and conditionally determined you can afford to buy a house. This gives home sellers confidence that the process is unlikely to get derailed because you can’t secure financing.

You Will Be Alerted to Potential Problems

Once your loan application is submitted, you will see my requests for loan documentation. Once all of this is received, I will pull your credit history and determine what, if anything, needs to be addressed before putting in offers on homes.

Perhaps you’ve been a victim of identity fraud? Perhaps there are debts that you were unaware of? There’s a lot of things that can cause mortgage approval delays. When you start your mortgage early, you will have more time and opportunity to correct issues found for a smoother loan closing.

Ready to begin? Please take this short questionnaire. Once submitted, I will give you a call to discuss your specific loan needs and help you start your loan application.

* Pre-qualification is based on a preliminary review of credit information provided to Guild Mortgage which has not been reviewed by Underwriting. Final loan approval is subject to a full Underwriting review of support documentation including, but not limited to, applicants’ creditworthiness, assets, income information, and a satisfactory appraisal.

When you receive your pre- qualification letter, it will show a relatively short period between 30 to 90 days. You will probably want to wait to get a pre-approval letter until you’re ready to start seriously shopping for a home.