I've been lucky enough to help several families find the homes of their dreams. However, the one question I must ask each family prior to looking at homes... "Have you talked to a lender?"

 

This is why....

 

When you’re ready to find a home, the last thing you want to do is limit your possibilities. Dream big, right?  But you’d be totally bummed if you found a perfect house, only to learn you don’t qualify for the home of your dreams.  Or better yet, you're stuck in a multiple offer situation against buyers who can provide an approval letter with their offer.  If you don’t earn a loan pre-approval before you start looking, you might actually prevent yourself from finding—and buying—your dream home.

 

You will need a Pre-Approval in order to purchase Real Estate, it is a vital first step that your Realtor will help you with. I would say, any Professional Realtor will guide you through this process before you go out to look at property together.  A pre-approval letter is a document provided by your lender to show proof to the seller that you qualify for the loan to purchase the home.  To pre-qualify you will have a conversation with your lender to provide your income, debts, credit history as well as employment history.  With this information your lender can pre-qualify you for a loan amount. Your pre-approval is given once you provide the documentation to prove what you said in that conversation.

 

Each Realtor has several lenders they work with and can refer one to you.  Please don't get upset or think a Realtor is putting you off by asking you to get a pre-qualification or pre-approval prior to showing you a property. I promise the Realtor only has your best interest at heart.