Mortgage Pre-Qualification or Pre-approval: What's the Difference?

Are you house shopping and wondering what type of loan product to ask for?  Want to know how much you qualify for?  What purchase price works for you?  Looking for a fast approval or a more thorough one?  Here are two options for you.

When you are looking for a home and do not have a specific property in mind, you can consider a pre-qualification or pre-approval.

Pre-Qualification

For a pre-qualification, you can complete a short form with stated information that you provide to us.  You will tell us your income and your assets for each borrower, but at this stage we do not verify this information.  We will pull your credit report and give you a “Qualified Borrower Certificate.”  This certificate states that based on the information that you provided to us and the info that we received on your single credit report, we have pre-qualified you for certain loan terms.   This process is fast and provides you with something that you can show to a realtor to support an offer that you may submit on a home. 

Pre-Approval

If you would like to be able to submit a stronger offer on a home, consider a pre-approval.  A pre-approval will bring you through a mortgage application where we request all of your supporting documentation.  We’ll ask you for proof of income (W2’s or tax returns depending on what applies), assets (bank statements) and liabilities.  This process is longer than the fast pre-qualification, but gives you a more solid offer when you finally make an offer on a property.  You will receive a conditional pre-approval letter with the terms and conditions that you have applied for.  Since we have verified all your information, this pre-approval may put your offer above others and also may result in you closing on your property sooner, as you have gone through more of the process ahead of making your offer. 

Ready to Get Started?

If you’d like to learn more about obtaining a pre-qualification, pre-approval, or the mortgage process, please contact one of our local, experienced, mortgage originators at 877-682-0334.

Or if you're ready to get started on your pre-qualification or pre-approval application, we make it easy to apply online!