Mortgage Preapprovals: 3 Things To Know About Them
by Albane Francois
Your real estate agent will ask you if you are a qualified buyer when you hire them to show you homes for sale. If you are not a qualified buyer, the agent will instruct you to get a mortgage preapproval before showing you homes for sale. A mortgage preapproval is a step in the home-buying process that is helpful and necessary when buying a home. If you are buying your first home, you might have questions about these, and here are three vital things to know.
How to Get One
A mortgage preapproval requires the same steps as getting a mortgage loan. While a preapproval is not the same thing as a loan, it requires submitting the same information to a lender. A lender requires an application for one thing, as this states the information that lenders need to make decisions. The process also includes getting a credit check and verifying your income. Therefore, to get a mortgage preapproval, you must work with a lender. The lender will give you instructions about applying, and it might take a week or so before you hear back. Once the lender decides, they will let you know if you qualify for a loan.
Why You Need It
As mentioned, getting a preapproval makes you a qualified buyer. Most real estate agents will only show homes for sale to qualified buyers. Therefore, you need a preapproval to prove that you are a qualified buyer. If you want to view homes for sale, you will need to go through this process. Getting preapproved is also vital for you and your budget. The preapproval tells you how much you can borrow, and you can use this amount to set your budget.
What It Does Not Mean
The third thing to understand is what a mortgage preapproval is not. The main thing to know is that a preapproval does not guarantee that the lender will give you a loan when you want to close on a house. If your financial situation changes from the time you got the preapproval to the time you want to close, you might not be a qualified buyer anymore. You will have to go through the loan application process once again when you find a house to buy to find out if you still qualify.
Knowing these things is helpful when buying a home. If you need to visit a lender for a mortgage preapproval, contact one today. The lender will walk you through the process to help you prepare for buying a house.
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About Me
How many times have you put off making repairs around your home because you didn't have the money to make them immediately? Have those decisions caused even more repair bills because you waited to make the repairs? I have done this several times in the past, and, oftentimes, not making those repairs have cost me far more to complete because the damage spread. The whole reason I created my blog was to help others find the financing they need to make home repairs without worrying about choosing the wrong type of financing option. Hopefully, my hard-learned lessons will help you avoid the same struggles that I have undergone.