Mortgage Pre Approvals

Mortgage Pre-Approval is a process where a lender is actually checking your credit and verifying your financial information. If you are pre-approved, a lender is making an actual commitment (subject to conditions such as a property valuation) to loan you money. A Pre-approval is not necessarily a guarantee that you will receive a specific rate or mortgage from that lender because circumstances may change from the time you get pre-approved until the time you are ready to make a purchase.

Getting pre-approved for a mortgage helps you in several ways. It saves time in your home search because you will only look at homes in your price range. Getting pre-approved is also a signal to your real estate agent that you are serious about buying, and you will receive faster, more targeted service. Finally, when it comes time to make an offer on a home, the fact that you are pre-approved signals to the seller that you should have no problem financing the purchase, which will improve your chances in a competitive offer situation. Do not forget that if interest rates fall while you are locked in, your lender will honor the lower rate.