Great question and one that should be handled with the utmost care and integrity. First you need to get prequalified. You need to have a conversation with a mortgage professional about your credit, debt, income and assets. After determining you qualify to purchase a home, the lender would ask you to submit a loan application with them.  During this process, they’ll also ask you for authorization to pull your credit report. Allow them to. This only helps the lender’s in helping you get preapproved. Additionally, your lender is going to ask you for financial documentation. In most cases they will e-mail you a checklist of the financials they need to obtain from you in supporting your ability to qualify.

Upon submitting this information to a lender, give them at least 24 hours to thoroughly review all of your financial documentation and complete financial package. After such time, they can produce a pre-approval letter for you to give to your real estate agent to make an offer to buy a home.  That’s it. As a good general rule of thumb, it is always optimal to get pre-approved prior to house hunting.

Looking to get preapproved to buy a home? Begin by getting a complementary mortgage rate quote online today it’s free!