Reasons You Shouldn’t Look for a House Until You’re Preapproved for a Mortgage

Looking for a home to purchase can be very exciting!  But the process of finding and purchasing a home can also be time consuming and possibly even frustrating.  There are many steps involved in buying a house, including finding a great mortgage broker. Depending on where and when you start your search, it could take months to find a home, make an offer, and complete the purchase.

In order to make buying a home as simple as possible, there are a few steps you can take in preparation for the process. One of those steps is getting preapproved for a mortgage before you begin your search for a property.

Here are some of the most important reasons you should postpone your search for a house until you’re preapproved for a mortgage:

You really have no idea how much a bank will loan you for a mortgage. You may think you know how much you will be offered, and you may have a good idea of how much you think you can afford for a monthly mortgage payment.  However, until you are preapproved for a mortgage, you do not have certainty.

Real estate agents are hesitant to work with clients that are not preapproved for a mortgage. In many situations, real estate agents must spend considerable time and effort helping their clients find a home to purchase. If a real estate agent does not have assurance (through a preapproval letter from a mortgage lender) that you actually qualify for financing, he or she may not want you as a client. Or, if a real estate agent takes you as a client prior to your receiving preapproval for a mortgage, the agent may not devote as much time to you as he or she might to  clients who are preapproved.

Sellers may not take your offer seriously if you cannot prove you are preapproved. If you start your search for a home to purchase prior to getting preapproved for a mortgage, you might run into a situation in which a seller will not take your purchase offer seriously. The seller might even outright reject your offer if you cannot prove you have secured financing. When  sellers accept an offer from a potential buyer, the status of their house must change from “for sale” to “under contract.” Once a house is under contract, other potential buyers will avoid looking at it. Sellers may be hesitant to put their homes under contract with unapproved buyers because in the event the buyer cannot gain approval, sellers have wasted time.

Getting preapproved for a mortgage is a relatively simple process. It is not nearly as time consuming as the final approval process.  Call The Home Loan Arranger today to find out more about getting preapproved for a mortgage. You will have to provide basic information such as the approximate area where you are looking for a home to purchase, how much you plan to use as a down payment, your social security number (for a credit check), your employment information, your income, and your net worth.