Mortgage pre-qualification and mortgage pre-approval are very different financial as-sessments. Most mortgage pre-qualifications rely on your estimates of your finances ra-ther than the hard documentation and credit scores required by a mortgage pre-approval. Think of a pre-qualification as a first step in the process. It will give you a good idea of how much house you can afford, your monthly mortgage payments and how much you will need to provide for your down payment and taxes. However, it does not guarantee rates or terms in the same way that a pre-approval does.