When seeking out your initial home loan approval, you’ll often hear realtors and loan officers use the terms “Pre-Qualification” and “Pre-Approval” often. While these are similar, they are not created equal. Let’s unpack the differences here so you can make sure you have the best approval in hand for your home search.
A Pre-Qualification is basic in nature and involves only a preliminary review of your ability to qualify. This typically involves a verbal review of your income, assets, and credit. Some loan officers will pull your credit or require an application for this process, but that’s as far as it goes. Is a pre-qual enough to make an offer, sure…but there’s not a lot backing it up.
A Pre-Approval involves a full credit check and submission of all of your qualifying documents. These are things like your paystubs, w2’s, tax returns, bank statements, or any other relevant documents to your situation. With this type of review, you can be certain of exactly what you qualify for.
When going through our Pre-Approval PLUS+ process, you can have the certainty of a lender underwriting review. This gets you an upgraded approval letter that spells out exactly what you provided and that we’ve extended out a pre-commitment, giving you the needed advantage to make your offer stand out.
