Your 4-Step Easy Pre-Approval

We're licensed in all 50 states!

We do not run your credit without your explicit permission. To get a full pre-approval we will have to pull your credit which only affects your score 0-5 points. If you've had your credit pulled by another lender in the past 45 days, your score will not be affected by a new credit pull.

If you'd like, we can run a soft credit pull to see where your score is at.

To get an accurate pre-approval, a lender will need to do a "hard pull" that will place an inquiry on your credit report. A hard inquiry will only change your score 0-5 points.

A lender that is giving you a pre-approval without pulling your credit score or by only using a soft inquiry is not giving you an accurate pre-approval.

Within a 45-day window, multiple credit checks from mortgage lenders are recorded on your credit report as a single inquiry. Proof.

Although it's more fun to search for houses, you really need to talk to a loan officer first! Getting pre-approved first allows you to know exactly what price range you're going to be looking in.

Also, most real estate agents won't show you a home unless you're pre-approved first. They want to make sure you have the money to buy a house!

This can vary lender to lender. However, a credit report "expires" after 4 months.

So, given that is takes around 1 month from accepted contract to closing, you have about 3 months to shop for a home with your pre-approval. If it takes longer for you to find a home, no worries. Talk to your loan officer and they can help you with the best strategy. Usually, you will not need to have your credit re-pulled until you find a home.

Of course, if anything significant changes to your income, assets, or credit you need to let your loan officer know as this may affect your pre-approval.

The lenders we work with have programs such as FHA, VA, and USDA down to a 500 credit score. Conventional programs start at a 620 credit score.

We don't want to just say "no". If you can't get approved with a loan program, your loan officer will first help you understand why — what kept you from getting approved.

Then, your loan officer can explain what you can work on to try again in the future. Most people who don't get approved usually only need to spend a couple months of focused work to get approved. Things like increasing their credit score or saving more money are the most common things that need to be worked on.

The fastest way to get approved is to start an application here and upload your documents that are requested. A loan officer then will review your application (usually within a day) and should be able to give you an answer with quotes within about 24 hours.

Sometimes your loan officer may ask you for additional information after they see your application, this is completely normal to ensure your pre-approval is dependable and accurate.

That's perfectly fine! We won't rush you or use harsh sales tactics. Buy when you're ready and comfortable.

Many home buyers still want to talk to a loan officer even in they planning on buying in a few months. They do this so they can see if there's anything they need to work on and to take a look at accurate numbers they can plan with.

A pre-qualification is less accurate while a pre-approval is accurate and dependable.

A pre-qualification usually involves no credit pull or a soft credit pull and the loan officer doesn't verify any documents.

A pre-approval involves a hard credit pull and a loan officer reviewing your documents to make sure that you don't run into any issues during your home purchase.

No! A pre-approval is 100% free forever and always. Even if you get approved and don't buy a home or use another lender. You will never pay us money up-front.

Most loan programs use what's called a debt-to-income ratio where an underwriting software look at how much debt you have (including your mortgage payment) to your gross monthly income.

No. Some loan programs offer a "lock and shop" option where you can lock your interest rate during your pre-approval. However, these programs usually require a fee when you close on your home.

A pre-approval interest rate quote shows you the current day's interest rate based on the market. During the time that you shop for a home, interest rates could go up or down.

Never. By law, you have the option to use any mortgage lender you want at any time. You are never locked into a mortgage lender.

However, switching mortgage lenders during your contract could cause you to not be able to meet your closing date. At which point the seller can back out of the contract.

You don't want to make any significant changes to your credit, assets, income, or employment.

For instance, I know it's tempting to start ordering a bunch of furniture. But you certainly don't want to load up a credit card with more debt that may change your credit score or affect your debt-to-income ratio. Run anything outside of your normal spending habits past your loan officer to make sure it won't affect your approval.

Nothing happens. If you got pre-approved, but decide you want to hold off on buying a home for a bit that's perfectly fine. When you want to explore buying again, just talk to your loan officer. They will likely want to verify any updated information about your employment, income, etc.

The most common documents requested during a pre-approval are past 2 months of bank statements, driver license, past 2 years W2s, past 30 days paystubs, and past 2 years tax returns.

Other documents requested will depend on your personal scenario. For instance, if you're self-employed you will be asked for your past 2 years of business tax returns instead of W2s and paystubs.

Or if you're divorced you will be asked for your divorce decree to prove if there is or isn't any alimony or child support.

You will first get your pre-approval letter that can be shown to sellers. This lets them know you have the financial ability to close on the home and that they should take your offer seriously.

You also will get a quote showing you the loan type, interest rate, estimated monthly payment (including taxes and insurance), and a breakdown of the closing costs.