https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 27 May 2026 14:53:54 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217911 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:20:46 +0000 Boogs 217911@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We got pre-approved first just to make sure we were looking at properties we could actually buy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217908 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:18:02 +0000 autumnlove 217908@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are pre-approved! Time to focus on the area we want! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217888 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 17:48:26 +0000 78h2o 217888@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We looked for a few weeks before getting pre-approved, as we didn't forsee any issues and wanted to see what was out there. It was really quick, only took about 30 minutes. Now we are pre-approved and still looking. :( The lender we met with told our realtor that we were approved, but said he would wait until we submitted an offer so that he could tailor the letter. We're looking for a loan that's less than half of the amount we were approved for, and he noted that we'd lose negotiating power if either realtor knew the actual amount of the approval.</p> <p>Best of luck to you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217880 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 17:34:52 +0000 Rescuemom10 217880@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Pre-approved first. Didnt expect to get the house we did by any means. It was priced too high. We just lucked out and the owners wanted to retire away to Hawaii soo bad they dropped the price big time and we scored. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217879 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 17:33:56 +0000 Mrs. Pen 217879@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Most realtors won't allow you to look at houses without a preapproval letter. Ours didn't :) It helped a lot because when we found a house we liked, we sent it to our loan agent and he would figure out exactly what the mortgage would be, closing costs and all that. It was much less of a hassle. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217832 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 16:29:45 +0000 littlek 217832@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We started looking for houses first. We knew how much we wanted to spend and it was way less than what we could get prequalified for. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217827 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 16:24:36 +0000 MamaMoose 217827@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@autumnlove: Just a warning. Don't use your pre-approval as your way of figuring out your budget!! Look online there are tons of resources available to help you figure out what your monthly payment will be based on different home prices, what your tax rates are, and what kind of down payment you are using. Most people will get preapproved for WAY more than what it's smart to spend. That's part of why there are so many foreclosures now. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217796 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 15:48:45 +0000 Running Elley 217796@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We got pre-approved first. All of the real estate agents that we spoke to prefer having a pre-approval letter first. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217763 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 15:22:56 +0000 immabeetoo 217763@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are getting prequalified next week and hope to be house hunting in August, pending a job offer. I figure why not! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217688 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 14:30:43 +0000 LuLu Mom 217688@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>pre-approved so we really knew our price range. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217676 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 14:19:36 +0000 banana 217676@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We got prequalified first to see how much we were dealing with. Once we found a house, we went through the more formal process of getting pre-approved to make us look like more desirable buyers to the seller. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217274 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:32:20 +0000 ladyfingers 217274@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Pre-approved. We knew what our budget was and got pre-approved for that amount (then ended up having to get another one when we realized our budget was getting us nothing and had to up it). Our realtor wouldn't work with us without one, and we knew our offer would be stronger with one. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217246 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:24:42 +0000 autumnlove 217246@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Alivoo01: Oooh, I better do that too. DH makes a good salary but he has crazy 6 figure grad school loans! :-( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217231 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:20:14 +0000 Alivoo01 217231@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We found a house first. We had no previous debt and just played around on online apps to see what we would qualify for on our income. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217229 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:18:29 +0000 DillonLion 217229@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Found the house first. It was sort of a whirlwind, impulse purchase. We were looking for rental houses and our agent offered to show us some that were for sale. After a month we had picked out a house, made an offer, got approved, and were under contract. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217222 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:15:31 +0000 autumnlove 217222@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>OK! gonna submit the paperwork today for pre approval! Thanks Bees! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217219 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:14:11 +0000 Mrs. Sunglasses 217219@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we got pre-approved first. that was it increase chances that an offer would get accepted faster than by someone who didn't have a pre-approval. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217204 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:08:01 +0000 mrsjyw 217204@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH works for a bank and so we had all of our preapprovals before searching~ </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217193 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:02:55 +0000 chibee 217193@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Well we casually looked at houses first, found one that I really liked, then got preapproved and a realtor - but ended up putting an offer on a different house that we live in now. When we put in an offer they required the pre approval letter, so I guess we didn't have a choice. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217155 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 08:38:38 +0000 littlebug 217155@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We got pre-approved first so that a) our offer could be taken more seriously, and b) we knew what our budget was. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217152 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 08:37:42 +0000 yoursilverlining 217152@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Determined our own house-budget first! Then got pre-approved (for a lot more than our budget, which is why determining your own realistic budget is important), then looked at homes in our price range. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217141 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 08:22:38 +0000 Sophia 217141@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We got pre-approved before we started looking at houses. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217134 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 08:15:27 +0000 Minnie_Girl 217134@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We budgeted out what we could afford first, and looked for houses in that price range. When we were seriously looking at a few options, we got preapproval for a number a little bit above our budget, even though we could technically qualify for a great deal more. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217118 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 07:48:56 +0000 matador84 217118@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>house and then pre-approved. we looked forever online, but only went to see the house when we were serious. like pp, there are many cities though where a realtor won't even work with you until you are pre-approved. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217110 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 07:44:23 +0000 Adira 217110@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Pre-approved first! Although we started looking before we got pre-approved, but we were pre-approved before we found our house. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217105 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 07:40:44 +0000 MrsBrewer 217105@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Pre-Approval first. Most real estate agents around here won't even write up an offer for you until you are pre-approved. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217101 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 07:36:09 +0000 MrsTiz 217101@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sortof both? A little over 6 months ago we talked to a loan agent at a bank and saw where our budget would be and what our payments might look like. I didn't have any credit although I had the downpayment, so we didn't actually get approved but it gave us a number to look at.</p> <p>I kept looking at houses, for us and my mom (she's going to do rental properties) and when we looked at a rental option for her I fell in love with it, and since it was a foreclosure we had to get pre-approved with the bank who owned it to make an offer.</p> <p>So pre-approved(failed), looked-found!, pre-approved offically, closing the deal TODAY! ah! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217089 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 07:27:30 +0000 Smurfette 217089@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We got preapproved and then starting looking. We are still looking :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217083 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 07:18:16 +0000 Modern Daisy 217083@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We were preapproved first. I wouldn't have known what we could afford without being approved! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-find-a-house-or-get-pre-approved-for-a-loan-first#post-217081 Wed, 11 Jul 2012 07:17:07 +0000 regberadaisy 217081@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Preapprove first! That way your offer is stronger. </p>