Pre-Approval
What does it mean to get pre-approved?
Getting pre-approved refers to a lender pre-approving you as a potential borrower/buyer. Once you are pre-approved, your lender will provide a pre-approval letter that states the amount you are approved for and the type of loan.
How does a lender pre-approve me?
The lender takes a preliminary look at your income, debt and credit history to determine whether you are a viable borrower. Your debt-to-income ratio and credit score are the primary factors in determining your qualification as a buyer.
Is it hard to get pre-approved?
Not at all! Most pre-approvals can be obtained within a couple days. However, your financial situation dictates the length of this process. The more complicating factors you have, the longer it will take to get approved.
That’s not to say there wasn’t competition for the home (it had four other offers). Brandon’s professionalism and communication with the seller is what positioned the Bonillas as serious buyers, and ultimately made all the difference in making this house their new home.
“I put together an offer that was very clean and aggressive for them,” said Brandon. “I really think that when you submit an offer, if you can portray a level of professionalism with it to the other agent, they're going to advocate for your offer a little bit more because they can tell that it's going to be easier to work with you.”
What are complicating factors?
Small business owners notoriously have a harder time getting pre-approved because their income is typically not set and fluctuates with their business’s profit and loss and they usually use personal credit to obtain business debt. Source of down payment can be a hurdle as well if it is coming from family members or investments that will be liquidated closer to the purchase time.
