Pre-approval helps speed the homebuying process, giving you a ballpark estimate of how much the lender is willing to loan you for your home purchase and locking in First National’s mortgage rates today for a set period of time as you shop for a home (anywhere from 60 to 130 days). This protects you from possible rising interest rates during this time. With pre-approval, you also typically get an estimate of your monthly mortgage payments for the maximum amount the lender will offer you. Potential buyers with pre-approval are usually more attractive to sellers, since they are a step ahead in the mortgage process and have a better sense of what size mortgage they can afford and what their lender will provide. Pre-approval does not guarantee you will be approved for a mortgage, but it’s a useful first step. You will be asked for some details of your finances, similar to what is required as part of the official approval process for your mortgage: income, employment, down payment amount, assets, debt. Usually less documentation is required at this stage, since you will need to gather more complete and up-to-date documents later on for final approval.