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Updated over 5 years ago on . Most recent reply
Prequalification vs preapproval
What are the actual differences between the two? A lot of websites claim different things so I’m now confused.
Most Popular Reply

Hi @Rohit Saigal! Welcome to the BP forums! A pre-qualification is a less formal ordeal altogether and, as a result, is less significant. It simply means "I've spoken with a loan professional and what I told them sounds good." A pre-approval usually involves providing real information to the lender and having them issue a light approval, which is then subjected to the full underwriting process.
Sometimes they are used synonymously, and sometimes pre-qualified doesn't actually mean anything at all. For this reason I would always recommend being pre-approved with a lender and making sure the seller considering your offer knows you are pre-approved with an excellent lender (usually NOT quicken loans BTW).