There are a number of reasons to sitting with a mortgage professional and completing a mortgage pre-approval before you head out into the housing market. First, the pre-approval will give an an accurate idea of how much you qualify for or more importantly what mortgage amount coincides with the payment amount that fits your budget. We can also secure mortgage rate holds for up to 120 days and protects you against rate hikes during that time period. Being pre-approved also helps top speed up the final approval once you have found a property as much of the work has already been done. This process helps us to determine what types of documentation will be needed to finalize your mortgage giving you ample time to gather these items. Lastly many realtors prefer to work with clients who have done their homework ahead of time to make sure they are not wasting your time and theirs looking at the wrong properties. Don’t be fooled! Pre-qualification is not the same as Pre-approval! Make sure you are pre-approved, without actually evaluating your circumstances in advance and providing you a proper rate hold it can be tough to know what you qualify for, at Mortgage Makers we work through that process thoroughly to make sure you are ready to make that first or next real estate purchase.