Luxury Homes/Top Towns

Community Info and Luxury Service for Home Buyers and Sellers on the Move

Luxury Homes for Sale in Berkeley Heights, Chatham, Clark, Cranford, Fanwood, Garwood, Madison, Millburn, Mountainside, New Providence, Scotch Plains, Short Hills, Summit, Warren, Watchung, Westfield

  • Home
  • Eat, Shop & Play
    • Arts and Leisure
    • Dining
    • Shopping
    • Sports
    • Trusted Local Vendors
  • Buyers
    • Arts and Leisure
    • Best Financing Rates & Moves
    • Housing Options for Seniors
    • Search for Homes
  • Sellers
    • 7 Investments for a Better Return
    • Thinking of Selling Your Home?
    • What Makes Your Home Sell Fast?
    • Sell Your Home
    • Your Home’s Value
  • Tips
  • Bio
  • Contact
  • Property SearchSearch for homes for sale in the Westfield, NJ area.
  • Your Home’s ValueSee what your home is worth in today’s market.
  • Town ProfilesLearn more about Westfield and the surrounding area.
  • Scott’s NJ BlogGet the latest Westfield area community information.

Pre-Qualified vs Pre-Approved When Buying a Home

February 11, 2021 by Scott Gleason

With the winter weather blustering outside, many people may choose to stay inside this weekend. If you desire to purchase a Westfield home in the near future, you might want to choose to start looking at available homes for sale. Another task on your home buying “to do” list should be to get your funding in line before you physically start to look at properties. This entails either getting pre-approved or pre-qualified. But these are two very different things. Which option should you choose?

When buying a Westfield home, you should get pre-approved for a loan before starting your search so that you present a strong offer to the seller when you find the home you like.

Pre-Qualified vs Pre-Approved

Pre-Qualification

Click here for an instant "No Strings Attached" valuation of your home.The pre-qualification process takes much less time than the pre-approval process. First, you sit down with your lender. (Avoid one of the common mistakes buyers make by interviewing several lenders before deciding on the one you want to use.) Then, you provide the lender with a list of your assets, income, and debt. After that, they look everything over and provide you with an estimate of the maximum amount you qualify for based on those parameters. This takes a couple of days. However, it does not guarantee you a loan. So, while a pre-qualification is helpful when submitting an offer, it is not as sound as a pre-approval letter.

Pre-Approval

Unlike the pre-qualification process, pre-approval takes a bit longer. The lender goes more in-depth with their research into your financial background. You still provide a list of your debts, assets, and income. However, they also pull your credit report and require you to provide proof of income tax returns, bank statements, paycheck stubs, etc.). Furthermore, you must tell your lender how much you plan on putting down for the loan. At the end of this process, your lender supplies you with a conditional commitment for a loan amount. Then, you may look at Westfield homes for sale either at that amount or below it. This helps keep you focused only on homes you know your loan will cover. When you do find a home you like, let your lender know how much you are paying for the home and they can provide you with a pre-approval letter to submit with your offer.

Even though getting pre-approved takes longer, it lends more credence to an offer than a pre-qualification letter. Also, it cuts down your escrow time when you get this done early on in the process. You stand a much better chance of a seller accepting your offer if you get pre-approved first. So, get started on this step of the home-buying process as soon as possible to make the path to home ownership a little easier.

Scott Gleason, CRS at Coldwell Banker Realty – East, NJ Luxury Homes

Filed Under: Westfield Buyer Tips Tagged With: home buying tips, pre-approved, pre-qualification, should i get pre approved or prequalified before i buy a home, tips for buying a home, westfield real estate

Contact Scott

 

Meet Scott Gleason - Westfield NJ Real Estate

Scott Gleason

Luxury Homes for Sale in Westfield, New Jersey

Coldwell Banker Realty - East

Westfield Area Luxury Homes

209 Central Avenue
Westfield, NJ 07090
908-233-5555 Office
908-698-2630 Mobile/Direct
Send an Email to Scott

Scott Gleason reviews

Check out Scott Gleason-RE/MAX Select on Yelp

Please follow & like us :)

Subscribe to my Feed
Follow by Email
Facebook
Facebook
Twitter
Visit Us
Follow Me
Pinterest
Pinterest
fb-share-icon
LinkedIn
LinkedIn
Share

Scott Gleason – Coldwell Banker Realty

908-698-2630 – Direct

Site Map


Deprecated: genesis_footer_creds_text is deprecated since version 3.1.0! Use genesis_pre_get_option_footer_text instead. This filter is no longer supported. You can now modify your footer text using the Theme Settings. in /home/luxury1homes/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 5699

Scott Gleason

Coldwell Banker - East

Luxury Homes for Sale

in Westfield, New Jersey

908-233-5555 Office
908-698-2630 Mobile/Direct

Send an Email to Scott

© 2022 Luxury Homes NJ - Scott Gleason

Website Design and Maintenance by Second Self Virtual Assistance