Get Pre-Approved Now

Getting pre-approved by a reputable mortgage consultant is a necessity in today's home-buying process.  The key to a successful and accurate pre-approval is dependent on the mortgage consultant's experience. 
 

Keep in mind that a "pre-approval" is different from a "pre-qualification."  The key difference between the two is that a pre-approval requires an initial underwriting response, supported by documentation that corroborates the information provided by you as the potential buyer, while a pre-qualification is more of a high-level guesstimate of buying power.  Any smart real estate agent will quickly identify a pre-qualification and send you back to the mortgage consultant for pre-approval.  By performing the necessary pre-approval due diligence, the mortgage consultant will be reducing the risk of putting you in a position where your down payment money is at risk.  WARNING: just because you have been issued a pre-approval by a mortgage consultant, doesn't mean it is necessarily accurate.  Here's where the experience comes in...

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Mortgage credit risk or "underwriting" can be a very frustrating experience for most.  The underwriting stage of the home-buying process is the most stressful.  The underwriter will review the four C's: Capacity, Capital, Collateral, and Credit. Capacity = your ability to repay the debt (income/employment).  Capital = money you have for the down payment, closing costs, and reserves (how much money do you have in the bank).  Collateral = the home you are looking to use to secure the financing (the condition and estimated value).  Credit = your credit history (what is on your credit report and your FICO score).  Where experience comes in - anyone can issue a pre-approval letter and say they analyzed the data and supporting documents accurately, however, if the mortgage consultant does not have ample credit risk experience, as most don't, because their role is usually limited to selling/originating mortgages, you may run into the issue where you were provided a pre-approval letter that is not actually an accurate assessment of your overall credit risk.  You will submit the letter with your offer, provide down payment funds, make other life decisions under the assumption that you are good to go, and then BAM! the underwriter says that the $100K income figure you provided is actually only $88K, due to the fact that you are self-employed (or any other reason) and the mortgage consultant did not calculate the qualifying income correctly.  Everything comes to a halt and the house of cards tumbles quickly.

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What happens now?  The seller will look to keep your down payment funds (there are ways to shield yourself from this risk, e.g., inserting a mortgage contingency into the contract), you may have already given your notice to your landlord/employer, etc...This will not leave you in a good position.

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The bottom line is, make sure you work with a mortgage consultant who has years of experience and can navigate the credit risk side of the business.  The mortgage origination process is also very stressful for them because there is a huge weight put on them by the homebuyers who are relying on them to get the deal done.  Years of experience = years of learning + years of mistakes + years of costly errors, all of which were at the expense of previous homebuyers.  Don't put yourself into someone's learning curve.

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Having 20+ years of experience within the mortgage industry, I am confident that I can provide you with a pre-approval that all due diligence is done up front, ensuring certainty of closing.  Check out what companies I have worked for and in what capacity here on my LinkedIn site.  I have held roles in sales/origination, credit risk/underwriting, data quality, and fraud identification/prevention within the mortgage industry.  

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If you're ready to go, click the "Click to Start" button above, which will bring you to the basic mortgage financing application.  As an alternative, you can schedule a call with me here, so we can have a discussion about your current financial scenario, what information and supporting documentation will be needed, and allow you to ask questions about the process.