Hard-check your credit for your pre-approval

2.5 million first-time home buyers buy homes each year. As you look for the home of your dreams, you’ll compete with many of them. To make your bid stand out over other offers for a home, get a strong pre-approval as the first step in your search.

Your mortgage pre-approval is a purchase dress rehearsal. Pre-approvals use your income, savings, and credit score to confirm how much home you can afford to buy and what your monthly payment might look like. It highlights danger zones in your application and provides guidance for getting a low mortgage rate.

Mortgage lenders provide pre-approvals to first-time buyers at no cost similar to how architects give estimates on a project or design. They do a check-up and analysis and tell you the results in as little as 3 minutes online.

Be aggressive about your pre-approval. Let the lender look at everything — your credit score, your income, your savings, and your history of work — it’s for your benefit. Don’t let a lender tell you a pre-qualification is just as good because it isn’t. 

Having a pre-approved mortgage makes you credible to sellers, real estate agents, lenders, and yourself.