How Can You Find Out If You’re Pre-Qualified To Buy a House?

By Michael Durr

"Mike is a total pleasure to work with! Great lender who explains everything thoroughly and gets you into a product that works well for you. Highly recommended!!" - Tyler Tomek

Are you considering buying a home but don’t know if you’re pre-qualified for a loan? If you’re like most buyers, you probably need to secure financing before you can hit the open market and find the home of your dreams. However, if you’ve never been approved for a mortgage before, you might not even know if you’re qualified for a mortgage. This is where a good lender comes in. By working with a good lender, you can find out if you’re qualified for a mortgage and how much you can afford. Here’s how the process works:

1. Reach out to a lender you trust. To determine if and what you’re pre-qualified for, you need to talk to a lender before anything else. They help people qualify for mortgages every day, and you can likely find out what you can get in as little as 15 minutes. You can meet them in person at their offices, but most lenders will pre-qualify you over the phone. They’ll do a soft pull of your credit to find out what you can likely afford, but don’t worry: this won’t affect your score.

2. Improve your credit score if necessary. If you aren’t pre-qualified for the price range you were hoping for, try improving your credit score and trying again. Your lender will likely have specific tips to help you improve your score based on your situation, but there are a few general strategies you can try as well. First, try to keep your credit utilization below 30% to show you’re a responsible borrower. Also, prioritize timely payments on any outstanding debts. Lean on your lender and create a plan together to improve your score.

3. Get pre-approved. Pre-qualification is quick and easy, but you don’t know how much you’re really able to afford until you get pre-approved. Getting pre-approved takes a little more work, and you’ll need to bring identification records to verify your income, like your driver’s license, pay stubs, proof of assets, and more. While this goes beyond pre-qualification, once you’re pre-approved, you’ll know exactly what you can afford as you head to the open market. Plus, home sellers prefer to work with buyers who are pre-approved.

Hopefully, this cleared up the mortgage process for you. If you have any questions about this or another topic, please contact me at (281) 348-9899 or mike@mortgageguys.pro. I am always willing to help!