Pre-qualified or Pre-approved?
Many home markets in the US right now are sellers markets, meaning the home seller is in the driver seat. So you, as a buyer, need to have your ducks in a row and move quickly if you plan to grab that dream home before someone else does. You’ve likely determined how much home you can afford, saved for a down payment, figured out a monthly payment amount, and are pretty sure you can get the loan. So are you pre-qualified? Or pre-approved? And is there a difference?
So pre-qualified essentially means you’ve talked with your lender (hopefully United Faith Mortgage, amIrite?), discussed your income, assets and down payment, and the lender has indicated how much home you can afford and that you’ll likely qualify. But it is nothing formal and does not guarantee a loan.
Pre-approved is where the rubber meets the road; we, as your lender, have verified your financial information and have submitted your loan for preliminary underwriting (the fancy term for securing your loan). To go through this process, you’ll be submitting some financial paperwork and it will take a little bit of time, but you’ll have paperwork that you can provide your realtor and ultimately the home seller that you are officially approved to buy their house.
Neither step in the process is wrong, but pre-approval is really the step you need to complete to be considered a serious buyer. And having gone through this step can often help you have a leg-up on landing that home you ultimately fall in love with.
Ready to get the process started? I know some folks that would be happy to help!
