Most homebuyers are very excited about beginning a home search process. They are ready to move ahead quickly with the home search process wishing to see home after home hoping to find their dream home waiting for them. Often homebuyers begin the process unclear about the amount of home they can afford to purchase.
Real estate professionals love to have enthusiastic buyers. Buyers who are excited about buying is one of the reasons real estate, as a profession, is so rewarding. But before you get in the car and head out, be sure to have that important prequalification letter ready to go. Looking at homes with a professional real estate agent without a preapproval letter is, "putting the cart before the horse".
When you finally find a home of your dreams and you want to submit an offer on that home, you will need to submit prequalification letter with the offer. If you are already pre-approved, you will save time and make it more far likely that your offer will be accepted. Plus, by being ready, you may prevent someone who is preapproved from slipping in behind you and get that home before you can.
For many years sellers were eager to accept any offer realizing that credit was relatively easy to get. In more recent times, as credit has been more difficult to obtain for many buyers, sellers are much less willing to even consider an offer without a preapproval letter in hand.
Why? The last thing that the seller wants to do in a market that is already slow is to remove their home from the market for a buyer who turns out to be unqualified to purchase. In the seller's mind, even one day without the home on the market could mean the potential loss of a qualified buyer who might bypass the home thinking it is unavailable.
In order to get pre-approved contact a lender of your choice and tell them that you would like to begin the preapproval process today.
Caution: simply getting prequalified is not as good as getting preapproved. A prequalification is just a lender indicating a casual evaluation of your position and stating that they think you might qualify for a loan.
A formal preapproval is issued from a lender only after the lender has had an opportunity to thoroughly evaluate your financial situation and stands ready to offer you a loan for your purchase.
