By There’s common fallacy among the purchasers and it’s about confusing the terms of pre-qualification and pre-approval when it comes to applying for a home mortgage. Though I can tell you that it may vary depending on banks and place where you’re processing, there’re a few general ideas which you must take into account;
Pr-Qualification
This stage is prior to the qualification for the mortgage and the initial stage of the process. It can be as simple as filling out an online application with preliminary data without having to go to the bank or submit documentation. It can also be done by phone.
Being based on preliminary data on your income and debts does not guarantee the final approval of your loan. It can be used to bid for a property if the seller tells you to accept it. Depending on the bank, you can include or not, a complete analysis of your credit situation. In most cases, it does not include it.
Pr-Approval
This is next step with much more formal procedure. It requires a loan application and an intense analysis of your credit and your financial situation. To grant it, you will be asked for documentation that confirms everything you have said about your income and credits.
Typically, it has expenses, the most frequent is for the credit report. It’s document that has much more weight when presenting offer and shows seriousness and commitment on your part. After this, the bank could grant you the document which gives assurance to the selling party that you are an approved buyer for the purchase. When the bank grants it, the most possible is that you fully approve the purchase if nothing happens that affects the process.
Precautions
- Submit prequalification offer in case you’re asked to pre-approve mortgage bank. If you deny having credit affected, or you hide vital info, it’ll only give you false result, which, when investigated, could make you lose opportunity to obtain loan.
- Stay with per-qualification and it won’t serve to complete purchase process.
- Present expired qualification in offer. Usually it has 30-day term, so check and update it if at that time you don’t find your ideal home.
- Prequalification is all they need. After that, you’ll have pre-approval and letter of commitment from bank which indicates that until the time of issuing that letter, you meet necessities for mortgage approval.
- Never underestimate the process or get tired halfway. Route to reach final approval is exhausting. Focus on bank officer and real estate agent, ask the questions you have and be patient.
