Get Pre-qualified For Your Home Loan

Once you have your financial house in order (i.e. debt paid down, good credit score, and money saved for moving costs, closing costs, and the down payment), it’s time to get pre-qualified or pre-approved for a home loan.

Pre-qualification means the lender looks at your income and your debt ratio to give you an estimate of what the lender is willing to lend you. Pre-approval means the lender digs a little deeper by looking at your credit history to get a more accurate estimate of your financial situation and then provides you with a conditional letter of guarantee for what the lender is willing to lend you.

Getting pre-qualified or pre-approved for a home loan is an important first step in your home search and should not be overlooked. Doing so offers several advantages:

1. It tells you just how much house you can afford by telling you just how much money the lender is willing to loan you.

Finding out how much house you can afford, in the beginning, will save you heartaches later on down the line. After all, there’s nothing worse than finding your dream home and bidding only to discover that you can’t find a lender willing to loan you the money for the home. Not only have you wasted your time, but you’ve wasted your real estate agent’s time and the seller’s time.

And the good news is that pre-qualification and pre-approval doesn’t lock you into a home loan. You are not committed to the loan until you actually sign the closing papers.

1. It helps your real estate agent work harder for you.

Real estate agents look for homes based on a number of criteria, including but not limited to, how many rooms you need, how many bathrooms you want, the square footage of the actual home, the size of the land, what area of the city you want to live in, the zoning restrictions, and finally, how much house you can afford.

It’s the “how much house you can afford” that often puts a damper on your dream home. After all, it doesn’t matter if you want to live on the Upper East Side if you cannot financially afford a home in that area. It doesn’t matter if you want ten acres of land complete with horse stable and a 5 bedroom ranch-style home if all you can afford is one acre with a 5 bedroom ranch-style home.

But knowing your financial situation—knowing just how much money the lender is willing to loan you—can help your real estate agent work more efficiently and in the long run, come as close as financially possible to your dream home.

1. It tells sellers that you are a serious bidder.

If a bidding war has taken place on a property, who do you think the seller is going to choose: the buyer who has already been to a lender and can produce a secure offer or the buyer who doesn’t even know if he can secure a home loan?

If you’re ready to start the process of buying your dream home, stop by your bank, or the closest mortgage lender, to discuss your financial options. Once you’ve received the okay, contact your real estate agent to let him (or her) know just how much house you can realistically afford. A good real estate agent will be able to work with you, within your financial limitations.