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Get Pre-approved

Rather you use a real estate agent or not it is very important that you get yourself pre-approved before you start looking for a home. This will save you and everyone else a lot of time. It is very important that you know your price range before you go looking at homes. What if you go out looking at $200,000 homes and you find the home of your dreams. You go to the Mortgage Company and they tell you that you only qualify for a $100,000 home. Not only did you just waist yours and the sellers time, but now you have to deal with the disappointment of not getting the home you had your heart set on but couldn't afford in the first place.

Most lenders can qualify you right over the phone. Using a few general questions they can get a close estimate on what you can afford. This is called getting pre-qualified. The lender will give you a pre-qualified letter.

This is not the same as being pre-approved though. Pre-approved mean you have gone through the whole loan application process. The lender has ran your credit report, verified your employment, looked up your assets, and a few other things. They will tell you the exact maximum amount you can afford.

This will make you a stronger buyer than all the other buyers out there that may be talking to the same seller who might be trying to buy the same home. Just make sure you have a good lender such as a mortgage company, bank, or a credit union. Also make sure you don't make any major credit purchases

John Rogers

El Paso Real Estate

Posted by John Rogers on 02/08/2007 03:40 PM

Comments (3)

buyers, preapproval

3 Comments on Get Pre-approved

FEB

2007

Well, we can certainly disagree on this one. I believe the first person a prospective home buyer should be looking for is a good agent, preferably one with significant experience. Qualifying a buyer isn't rocket science. Getting a credit review takes about an hour.

What we see with all the hype about "get pre-approved" first, is buyer locked in with loan officers that have not given them GFEs, reasonable rates, loads of junk fees.

IMO, no offence, a buyer going to a lender without an agent to guage the quality of the lender is like a lamb going to slaughter.

I'm sure many loan officers will say the same thing about agents.

Lenn

I am not going to disagree with your opinion Lenn. It's just that i've met buyers who felt they didn't need an agent. They won't give you a lick of info because of the last agent they worked with. They come to your listing not wanting you or any other agent and they aren't even approved. I've met some who i've given them the number of a good loan officers but just ask me "what is in it for me."

I just want to get the house sold and if they can buy it I will do every thing in my power to help them out. It's my duty to the seller to get his home sold and thats what I'm going to do. I just want to make sure the buyer is already pre-approved before I take the house off the market.

JUL

2007

I agree with John in that I want my buyers pre-approved "before" they come ready to buy. The buyer that ride from house to house and not even think about getting their credit check is normally not a serious buyer. This same buyer probably will end up going to another agent that will set some guidelines and of which will be to know if they even quailified to buy and for how much.

Now that doesn't mean that I cannot refer them to a good loan officer but having them pre-approved is utmost to me. Sometimes it is best that I as the agent stay clear of the loaning process because the terms can become an issue later on and I'd rather not get blamed for that too. So I just want them pre-approved.

I put that in my short sale remarks especially because the process is so hectic as it is -- buyer must be pre-approved and have the letter to make the offer.

Save time.... have buyers take that first step and get pre-approved for a certain amount.

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