Articles Tagged With: Prequalification

February 15, 2024

Home Loans: When To Get Pre-Approved

When should a house hunter choose to get pre-approved for a home loan? It’s a common question many borrowers ask. But this question can be confusing because some use the term “prequalify” interchangeably with “pre-approval”. But these two terms actually mean different things. Getting prequalified for a home loan is something you do early in the house-hunting stages. You are not ready to make any offers, but you want to let sellers know you are not window shopping. Prequalification means the borrower has filled out some basic paperwork with a lender while in house-hunting. It is not loan approval, and borrowers still, at this stage, have a ways to go before loan approval happens, including filling out basic loan application paperwork (not pre-qualification paperwork). Do You Always Need To Pre-Qualify? | more...

August 3, 2021

Before You Apply For Mortgage Pre-Approval

By Joe Wallace

A lot of people assume they are ready to apply for any major line of credit at any time. But if you want to apply for mortgage pre-approval, there are some important things you need to ask yourself to determine whether you are truly ready to apply. Where are you at in the current process of planning and saving for a home loan? FHA mortgages, conventional loans, and even some first-time homebuyer downpayment assistance plans require the borrower to make a minimum investment. If you don’t have a down payment saved or have a plan to come up with your down payment and closing costs before seeking a lender, you may not be ready to apply for pre-approval. But what else should you be asking? One of the first things | more...

July 21, 2021

Why Get Pre-Approved For An FHA Home Loan?

By Bruce Reichstein

Why get pre-approved for an FHA mortgage? This is a question some first-time home buyers ask, and the answers can make a big difference in how you approach your home loan. FHA Home Loan Pre-Approval Does Not Commit You To A Mortgage When you fill out the forms to be pre-approved for a home loan, you are not committing to the transaction in the sense that you would be financially obligated to buy. The borrower is not legally committed to a purchase when getting pre-approved. Home loan pre-approval actually works to help you be taken seriously as a buyer when you do find a home you’re ready to commit to. The buyer takes a pre-approved borrower more seriously and you may find that a pre-approval letter (depending on the housing | more...

November 10, 2020

Information You Need To Pre-Qualify Or Get Pre-Approved For A Mortgage

By Joe Wallace

When you go to explore your home loan options, there are two steps you’ll take to get things started and moving forward. One is getting pre-qualified for the loan using some basic (but important) information about your income, credit history, and other variables. The other step is to get pre-approved, which is a more involved process that requires more information building on what you previously submitted in the pre-qualification process. What kind of information does a potential borrower need for these applications? It helps to think like a lender when dealing with questions like these; your loan officer needs information to establish your employment and income history, your patterns of credit use, the size of the loan you need, etc. For pre-qualifying, which is something you can do in your | more...

July 8, 2020

Is Home Loan Pre-Approval Now Required?

By Bruce Reichstein

Borrowers planning to buy a home using an FHA home loan have a lot to contend with when planning and saving for the loan. But now, there is the added complication of the coronavirus outbreak, social distancing is the order of the day and many professions are struggling to do business while reducing risk of exposure to disease. One development some are watching–in addition to revised procedures for appraisals and other measures–there are reports of a trend of sellers requiring borrowers to prove they are serious about the purchase of a property before agreeing to show the home in person. Money Magazine reports this trend of having a pre-qualification requirement–why does this pre-approval issue matter in the age of COVID-19? Low mortgage interest rates have brought more home buyers and | more...

October 31, 2018

Mistakes To Avoid When Buying A Home With Your FHA Loan

By Joe Wallace

There are common problems associated with home loans that can be easily avoided no matter if you are using an FHA mortgage, FHA refinance, or any other kind of home loan. Do you know how to make your home loan experience as efficient and hassle-free as possible? FHA Loan Pre-Approval: Don’t Search For A Home Without It When you are serious about the house hunt, and are ready to commit financially to the home you find that seems to be “the one”, the seller will take you far more seriously as a buyer if you approach with pre-approval in hand. Sure, you can make an offer without being preapproved for a home loan, but rest assured that other potential buyers WILL talk to the seller having taken the time to | more...

September 28, 2018

FHA Home Loan Approval Questions Part Two

By Bruce Reichstein

There are many questions borrowers have about home loan approval and how the lender decides which loans to approve. Knowing more about this process can help you better prepare for it; here are some of the most commonly asked questions about FHA home loan approval. Why Does My FHA Loan Application Get Denied With One Lender But Approved By Another? FHA home loan rules include minimum standards for FICO scores, credit history, and other factors. But these minimums are not the only guidelines that affect home loan approval. Your FHA mortgage loan is also subject to lender standards which will vary from lender to lender but also may be different than FHA loan minimums. FICO scores, employment history, and other factors may vary from the FHA minimums, which is permitted | more...

September 25, 2018

Five Steps To An FHA Home Loan

By Bruce Reichstein

Buying a new home is a process. Do you need an FHA mortgage to purchase the home you’ve been looking for? There are five things you can start doing now without financially obligating yourself to purchase; these steps will definitely help you get ready for your new home. #5: Determine How Much Loan You Can Afford Before You Apply For Your FHA Mortgage Figuring out how much home loan you can afford isn’t just about how much you can afford NOW, but also down the road in light of future pay raises, upward mobility at work, changes in salary or bonuses, etc. The debt to income ratio you have at the moment may be lower six months into the future-it’s a very good idea to look ahead when planning for | more...

Who can apply for FHA Reverse Mortgages?

August 2, 2017

Where Can I Apply For An FHA Loan? Part Two

By Joe Wallace

In our previous blog post about getting FHA loans, we discussed what a participating FHA lender is, and why you might not find the same types of FHA loans from lender to lender. Where can you apply for an FHA loan? Through a participating FHA lender who offers the type of home loan you need. But there’s more to this than just seeking and finding the right financial institution. Get Pre-Approved For An FHA Loan When you find an FHA lender who offers the type of loan you need (new purchase, construction loan, condo loan, etc.) be sure to ask about the pre-approval process and what it takes to get pre-approved. Doing so can help you a great deal-you’ll have a better idea about the rough amount of loan you | more...

July 13, 2017

How Do You Apply For An FHA Loan? What You Need To Get Started

By Joe Wallace

How Do You Apply For An FHA Loan? In our last blog post we covered some basics about preparing to apply. You can’t get to the application process without saving up for closing costs, examining your credit, and making sure you come to the application with at least 12 months of on-time payments on your credit history for all financial obligations. Once you are ready to start looking for a home, one of the best things a borrower can do is to get pre-approved for an FHA mortgage. Pre-approval means starting a business relationship with your chosen participating FHA lender. The lender asks for credit information from you, does a preliminary check of the data you’ve provided (as well as looking at your FICO scores, income, etc.) and makes a | more...