Should you talk to a mortgage professional before house hunting?
Absolutely! Even if you haven't so much as picked out houses to visit yet, it's important to see your mortgage professional first. Why? You and your agent need to know what your buying power is before you shop.
When we pre-qualify you, we help you determine how much of a monthly mortgage payment you can afford, and how much we can loan you. We do this by considering your income and debts, your employment and residence situations, your available funds for down payment and required reserves, and some other things. It's short and to the point, and we keep the paperwork to a minimum!
As a best practice, we go beyond the minimum. Many of our loans are eligible for computerized pre-approval. This will result in an actual pre-approval of your loan for a specific loan amount and a program that suits you. Whenever we can, we'll give you a pre-approval, not just a pre-qualification. Even though this service costs us more money, it's free to you. It will give you and your real estate agent a much higher degree of confidence when making an offer on your new home!
Once you qualify, we give you what's called a Pre-Qualification Form (your real estate agent might call it an "PQF"), which says that we are working with you to find the best loan to meet your needs and that we're confident you'll qualify for a loan for a certain amount. Don't be surprised if most agents insist you do this before looking at homes. The home search and negotiation is serious business and they want to be sure they can make you happy when you find your new home.
When you find a house that catches your eye, and you decide to make an offer, being pre-qualified or pre-approved for a mortgage will do a couple of things. First, it lets you know how much you can offer. Your real estate agent will help you decide on an appropriate offer, but being pre-qualified or pre-approved gives you the confidence to know you can follow through.
More importantly, to a home seller, your being pre-qualified is like you walked into their house with a suitcase full of cash to make the deal! They won't have to wonder if they're wasting their time because you'll never qualify for a mortgage to finance the amount you're offering for the home. You have the clout of a buyer ready to make the deal right now!
You can always use the calculators available on our site to get an idea of how much mortgage you can afford -- but it's important to meet with us. For one thing, you'll need a Pre-Qualification Form. For another thing, we can offer you choices in loan programs that you may not have considered but would fit your inidividual needs perfectly.
Starting early and knowing exactly where you stand is the secret to a
"Worry Free MortgageTM"!
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