Three Reasons to Get Pre-approved Early

Lately, one of the questions we’ve been receiving is when to obtain a mortgage pre-approval in Omaha. It’s generally best to obtain pre-approval early – before starting to look at homes. We recommend getting pre-approved as early as six months to a year in advance.

We know what you’re thinking – you’ll just look at homes online. Then when you’ve found some that interest you, you’ll reach out to us. But first, hear us out on the benefits of getting an early mortgage pre-approval in Omaha.

Know the Size of Loan You Can Qualify For

One of the biggest advantages to getting pre-approved before you begin house hunting is that you know what you can actually afford. And this doesn’t just mean how much money you could put towards a house payment each month, this means the loan you’re able to qualify for.

But too often, clients assume they will qualify for a mortgage similar to one their friend or colleague qualified for, which isn’t always the case. The best way to find out how much you can afford is to get pre-approved ahead of time. Then if you aren’t quite where you want to be financially, you have time to strategize on how to improve your loan options.

But can’t you just pre-approve me for this loan? I know I don’t meet all the requirements, but I can obviously make the payments.

Unfortunately, we cannot. There are minimum requirements each borrower must meet to qualify for a loan. These guidelines are standard and specific, and lenders can’t bend them or make exceptions. The guidelines apply to credit, income, and down payment, and each must meet the minimum requirements in order to qualify for the loan. For example, this means that even if a borrower can put 50% down on a home, if their credit score doesn’t meet the minimum requirement, they aren’t able to qualify for the loan.

Getting pre-approved early allows us an ample amount of time to review all of your information and ensure that it meets the hundreds of pages of lending guidelines.

Not to mention, on several different occasions, we’ve also had clients discover issues on their credit reports while seeking a mortgage pre-approval. These issues can take weeks, even months, to resolve and can greatly affect the type of loan and interest rate you qualify for. It’s always best to resolve those issues right away so they don’t have a negative impact on your credit score.

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Take Action to Be Taken Seriously

Regardless of the season, there are always a lot of people looking at houses. Some are genuinely in the market for a new home, while others just like exploring different houses.

To be taken seriously by both your real estate agent and potential sellers, you need to be pre-approved.

We’re not trying to say that your agent won’t show you homes if you aren’t pre-approved, because they probably will. However, being pre-approved allows your real estate agent to do their job better. With an understanding of your actual price range, they can show you homes that fall within that range.

When it comes to putting in an offer, most sellers won’t even consider an offer if the potential buyer isn’t pre-approved because they have no way of knowing you are financially capable of purchasing the home. So, when there are multiple offers on the table, sellers almost never choose the buyer who isn’t pre-approved.

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Quicker Closing

On average, closing on a home takes 30-45 days from accepting the purchase agreement to closing. We often assist pre-approved buyers in closing in less time than buyers who are not pre-approved. Why? Because we’ve already received and verified their information, meaning we only need to collect the most recent documentation, if that.