Getting Prequalified

Get pre-qualified with a lender

This means you talk to a lender before doing anything else. By speaking with the lender, you’ll know exactly what you can go and purchase. You don’t waste anyone’s time, including yourself. The last thing you want to happen is going out and looking at properties to find the perfect place. A place you can see yourself growing old in; raising a family there. Then you talk to a lender and it turns out, you can’t afford it. That’s a scenario you don’t want.

As a real estate agent, I’ve made this mistake with many buyers and it happens more often than you think. Don’t do it. It’s absolutely heartbreaking. Talk to a real estate agent; for example, they may want you to have a loan in place before you start looking. It’s perfectly normal and it’s better in the long and short run!

Do not start looking at the property until you’ve spoken to a lender.

And secondly, the good thing about getting pre-qualified first before going and looking at a property is that when you do eventually find the right place, you already have everything waiting with the lenders so that you can hit the ground running. I found that anytime you find a great property, chances are you’re not the only one that’s looking at it. You’re going to be competing with other people who feel the exact same way as you do about it. But having everything with the lender gives you a small advantage over everyone else. They maybe haven’t done that yet. And anytime you find a good deal, timeliness really matters because you can move on it quicker. And the better the deal you’re going to get.

I want this article to be the most comprehensive, complete guide and not one of these generic articles. This is going to have all the details you need and have things to keep in mind when speaking with a lender. They are going to want certain things from you like tax returns credit info, etc. let;s talk about a few of those things now.

Credit Report

A lender is going to want to look at your full credit report and score. And in addition to that, they’re going to want to see the last two to six months of your bank statements showing proof of income and also proof of your expenses. They’re going to want to see your pay stubs. In addition to that, they’re going to want two to six months of expenses saved up in addition to your down payment. Any other documentation for other properties you own, any other liabilities, any other assets you have, or anything else that’s part of your portfolio. They’re going to want to see proof and documentation of everything.

Keep in mind if you’re self-employed, they look at you way more closely. They look at every single account, every single expense, line by line by line. Keep that in mind. So now we’ve covered how much money you need to put down, how to work on your credits, paying off high-interest debt, and then getting pre-qualified. So pretty much, for the most part, you’re now ready to begin looking at property. Then we get into some of the most common misconceptions that I hear buyers say that I’ve experienced myself, a real estate agent and everything else I’ve read online.