If you are absolutely serious about buying a home, it’s time to get pre-approved for a mortgage! This step in the process is recommended to be taken prior to starting your house hunt. We know that starting off with paperwork isn’t as appealing as jumping into the actual home search, but getting pre-approved will help you tremendously in your hunt! A pre-approval is basically a written statement from a lender stating the lender’s preliminary determination that a borrower would qualify for a particular loan amount. The loan amount and determination is based on income and credit information.

So why is it so important to have one of these before shopping around? Well you wouldn’t want to go to a grocery store without your wallet would you? Getting pre-approved will give you an accurate detail on how much home you can actually afford, which can help narrow down your search. You will also be a much more attractive buyer to sellers, because you have proof that ! ...