What is a Pre-Qualification?

What is a Pre- Qualification?

If you choose to finance the home purchase with a mortgage, you’ll need to get pre-qualified first. A “pre-qualification” isn’t as robust as a pre-approval, but it’s a good first step to ensure you can purchase the home you desire (or any one at all).

A pre-qualification is a pretty straightforward, simple check to see what you can afford based on your income/debt levels (debt-to-income ratio), assets, down payment, employment history, perceived credit score, and so on.

You can get pre-qualified very quickly and easily with a bank or mortgage broker, but it won’t carry much weight in the eyes of the agent or the seller.

After all, with a pre-qualification you’re simply supplying estimates and your credit report probably hasn’t yet been run (though it should be pulled early on in the process). That said, a pre-qualification, or pre-qual, is just a determination of what you’d likely qualify for if you made an offer and applied for a home loan.

It’s not necessarily a waste of time, but it’s not going to get you very far. You can liken it to running a few numbers to see where you stand, but it cannot be used in place of a pre-approval.

For more information about this subject and about loan questions please contact Frank Marta Texas Home Loan Specialist. [email protected] or give us a call (713) 373-0345