https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 29 Apr 2026 19:26:44 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641344 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 12:36:39 +0000 IRunForFun 2641344@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@math.nerd: We just went through the home-buying process. We knew we wanted to stick with our credit union for our mortgage so we did our pre-approval through their online application. A lot of lenders will have this option. That being said, pre-approvals expire after a certain number of days - I think ours was 90. So if you're still in the very early days of thinking about buying, you might not want to get officially pre-approved yet. The actual pre-approval, once the application is submitted, can happen very fast, so don't worry too much that you may find a house you like and not be able to get pre-approved in time to make an offer. </p> <p>You might want to start by gathering any documents you might need - pay stubs, two years worth of income tax returns, any information you have about investments and other assets, etc. Crunch numbers to figure out what you reasonably want to spend - you WILL get pre-approved for more than you want to spend, that's almost a guarantee - so it's good to agree on a budget upfront and stick to it no matter what. Remember, if you look at home prices and mortgage estimates on sites like Zillow, you pretty much want to double what their estimate is for a monthly payment, because you'll be taking into account things like PMI, taxes, homeowners insurance, etc. You can always start working with a realtor to casually look, as well, because he/she will be able to pull much more specific information on homes and prices than you can find looking on your own. A realtor may also have good recommendations for a lender/broker.</p> <p>Lastly, you shouldn't have to pay anything upfront. All costs are usually rolled into closing - something else to take into account for expenses!! </p> <p>Good luck!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641312 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 11:49:00 +0000 sarac 2641312@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For sure shop around a little bit. I just saved .15% on my interest rate purely by walking into another bank and doing another 20 minute preapproval. And if you can't do 20% down, don't despair - lots of banks will go as low as 5%, if you have to. </p> <p>Echoing the people who have said 'figure out your maximum comfortable payment and STICK TO IT'. Also know that the payment will tick upwards when they factor in taxes, PMI, etc, so don't just look at the mortgage payment. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641308 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 11:41:11 +0000 sunny 2641308@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My personal experience was to start by getting pre-approved with a lender that my agent had worked with in the past. Then I shopped around the various banks to find one that would get me the best combo of rates/fees. Getting pre-approved will require running your credit score. Once you have your credit score, you can ask the other lenders to give you an estimate for rates/fees. </p> <p>You won't pay any money until you have reached mutual acceptance on a home. At that point, your lender will want a deposit to lock the rate &amp; do the appraisal. After that, you shouldn't be paying any more money to the lender except through the escrow process. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641305 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 11:36:42 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2641305@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Your bank should likely do this for free. If you are paying rent now then you have an idea of how much you can afford on your housing expense. Keep in mind with homeownership you have a mortgage (rent), taxes and insurance. Of course you will have upfront costs such as the down payment to buy a house.</p> <p>Go prepared with copies of your W2, current pay stubs, banks statements, and investment statements. You will want to gather at least three statements, stubs, W2s. I don't recall needed other things, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lender wanted to see past lease agreements/ rent receipts and where exactly the funds for your downpayment will come from.</p> <p>Before you visit with a lender take a look at your credit report- not just the score. See if there are any red flags you need to provide explanations for. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641292 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 11:24:34 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2641292@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yes I would talk to a realtor (free for you). They can also help guide you through what "other" costs you can expect to be rolled into your mortgage (so you can figure out what you can pay) and what other costs will come up during closing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641286 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 11:11:03 +0000 mediagirl 2641286@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@math.nerd: before getting pre-approved, I would find out what you would feel comfortable paying as a mortgage payment. Then find a mortgage calculator online that would show you your payments on say a $250k house, plus estimated taxes and escrow. </p> <p>Then, I would not get pre-approved until you are ready to make that jump to "let's go find a house now". It's just another unnecessary hit on your credit if you have to get pre-approved multiple times. </p> <p>We ended up working with a broker that our agent recommended. We told him we were looking but didn't want him hitting our credit until we were ready. When we found a house, we called him and within an hour, he had pulled what he needed for our letter. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641283 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 11:02:07 +0000 KatieBklyn 2641283@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We had our realtor suggest a mortgage broker, and he did a pre-qualification rather than a preapproval. He also sent us breakdowns for hoe much we should expect to spend on closing costs and an estimate of what our monthly costs would be with a few different house prices. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641266 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 10:40:33 +0000 808love 2641266@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our trusted friend was an award winning realtor and we went through his loan officer referral. If you have a good realtor, that might be an easy route. When we later refinanced, we had such a standard loan so we went onlin shopping. The first time through we wanted it to be with someone who could sit down and patiently explain everything to us.<br /> You will need two months of pay stubs, bank statements and tax returns in most cases. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641228 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 10:17:47 +0000 BSB 2641228@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We used this online calculator that included PMI to get a rough estimate on what we want to pay. </p> <p><a href="http://usmortgagecalculator.org" rel="nofollow">http://usmortgagecalculator.org</a></p> <p>Oh, the default for interest rate for that calculator is 5%. Interest rates are around 3.5-3.75 at the moment. If your credit is not as good, I would estimate that the interest rate would be higher. Then we internet shopped to see what was out there. Since some funds are tied up in relocation costs and I will be reimbursed shortly, I got pre-qualified. Which not ideal.. Pre-approved is ideal and actually required documentation like pay stubs and w2. </p> <p>I'm now getting pre approved because we found a house and I should be getting reimbursed on some of the things I had to pay for in the relocation. </p> <p>Since I'm new to the state, I'm struggling to figure out what bank to choose to get preapproved. Big or small bank? Local? Credit union or regular bank. I have been preapproved a few years ago when we considered buying a house and we just used the same bank we have (I still have it, but it on the west coast and we are now on the east coast). My bank would have access to my account. Would that make things easier? I don't know. </p> <p>I think I want to go with a local and smaller bank so they can get me pre approved quicker. </p> <p>I do admit that I should have gotten preapproved sooner but I was so busy with the move and I am wondering if the added debt from relocation coasts (that will be reimbursed) would affect my preapproval. Yeah, I'm not sure what I should do. All at the same time, we want to buy a home fairly soon. I'm just dancing at this point, trying to take steps forwards but realizing that maybe I should wait.</p> <p>Oh, I'm getting some closing costs assistance through my relocation package but requires one of two large (notoriously known to be slow) banks. I'm think we are going with a small local bank that should help us close faster. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641214 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 10:08:55 +0000 NorthStar 2641214@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You will pay for the services when you close, but I would definitely recommend talking to a few different banks to see where you can get the best interest rate. It's certainly a good time to buy since the rate hasn't increased (yet). Once you find a person or a bank you like, they will be able to walk you through the whole process.</p> <p>If you are worried about what you can afford, then yeah, it might be good to talk to a financial advisor or at a minimum, put together a budget and how much per month you can afford for the following:</p> <p>*Principal &amp; interest<br /> *house insurance<br /> *property taxes<br /> *possibly private mortgage insurance (depending upon how much you can put down on a home)</p> <p>The monthly payment typically includes all of these and sometimes people forget about the last three. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641210 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 10:03:37 +0000 looch 2641210@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Is your situation boilerplate, or do you have any special considerations, like self employment, new at a job, worked abroad, not citizens? If so, get all your paperwork togther, you will likely have additional documents to fill out/hoops to jump through. Not every lender is going to be set up to be able to handle these situations, as I learned. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641207 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 09:58:42 +0000 MaryM 2641207@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The first time I did this, I went with a mortgage broker. My brother is a real estate lawyer, so I used someone he trusted. </p> <p>She was very helpful at talking through what I could afford vs. what I could be approved for. </p> <p>If you know the neighborhood you're interested in, it could be helpful to find a house that looks like something you'd like so they can factor in the right taxes, insurance, HOA fees etc. to your quotes. </p> <p>The second time we bought, we went with our credit union. It was similar to the first experience of them helping us figure out what we could afford vs. what they'd actually lend us. </p> <p>We didn't pay either broker. It was covered at closing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641206 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 09:58:14 +0000 raspberries 2641206@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We actually found a realtor first - they recommended a few lenders they regularly work with who are reliable and responsive.</p> <p>For the actual preapproval, we had a phone call as the first step, and they asked how much we made, what area we were looking in, and how much we'd want to be pre-approved for. I'd looked at our budget and figured out how much we'd be comfortable with using online calculators, and told them that figure, and he said it should be no problem as long as we didn't have any significant credit issues. Then we met and provided them with documentation, they asked if we wanted to be pre-approved for more, and when I said we were really firmly not wanting to spend above what I had calculated, we were approved pretty immediately.</p> <p>My brother had been pre-approved for a higher amount than he could actually afford because the bank told him it'd be fine, and he's been house-poor ever since - so knowing what you're comfortable paying is a really good first step! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641204 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 09:56:03 +0000 yoursilverlining 2641204@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would begin by figuring out how much home you can comfortably afford. You’ll get preapproved for whatever amount, but in my opinion that has little bearing to anything as you should already know your budget and the top of your spend. </p> <p>Also, start by gathering paperwork. To get pre-approved you may need to give your lender all sorts of paperwork so good to gather that stuff up front (plus you’ll need it when you find the one you want to purchase, so save yourself time by getting that together up front).</p> <p>Pull your credit reports (and scores) so you know whether there are any errors or anything else that needs to be cleaned up on your credit report. Knowing your scores will give you a ballpark of what interest rate to expect.</p> <p>Preapproval doesn’t last forever, so I wouldn’t necessarily get preapproved if you are not really ready to start really actively looking for a home. If you are only very casually looking, you can always attend open houses and look and then get preapproved once you find a few places that are real contenders.</p> <p>We’ve gotten our mortgages through local mortgage lenders – I would definitely shop around for the lowest interest rate and/or most competitive terms. You also may want to educate yourself some on the different mortgage loan programs available (i.e., FHA loans, VA loans, ARMs, 15 year vs. 30 year, jumbo loans (since you’re in LA where housing prices are higher!) etc.) as well as PMI. If you will be putting down 20%, great – if not, you may want to look for a lender that offers a lower down payment requirement *without* PMI (some will waive PMI at 10%). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641201 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 09:54:43 +0000 Anagram 2641201@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You can get pre-approved online-there are a lot of websites. And don't worry about getting approved for "too much"--they will almost definitely approve more than the recommended-by-most-people 3x your salary, but you control how much you will spend, and you know your debt and monthly expense load and can make an educated expense on your own. Meaning, if they approve you for 900k but you know 500k is more reasonable with childcare, etc, then you only look at houses in the 450-500k range. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641198 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 09:52:23 +0000 Mama Bird 2641198@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You can go to a bank or a credit union, but I recommend also crunching the numbers on your own to decide how much debt you can handle. They'll take your assets and expenses into account to a degree, but they won't think of everything (coop maintenance/HOA fees, utilities, non housing expenses like food and child care, how much you want to save or have in an emergency fund, etc.) </p> <p>Logistically, we had to provide pay stubs, tax returns for a couple of years, info on a current mortgage, and how much we're hoping to pay in taxes. It was a pretty easy process and at the end we got a letter we can show a broker if we're trying to bid on something fast. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641196 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 09:47:01 +0000 FaithFertility 2641196@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went to our bank that we both had been banking with for years. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-to-get-pre-approved#post-2641191 Mon, 24 Oct 2016 09:45:19 +0000 math.nerd 2641191@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hi there,<br /> My husband and I are in the EARLY stages of trying to buy a home. We're basically just assessing our finances and figuring out what we can afford. I think that the next step is to speak to a lender to get preapproved for a loan so that when we find the "one" we can put in an offer.</p> <p>I just have NO IDEA where to begin! Should we just walk into a bank and speak with someone? Should we seek out a specialized mortgage lender? If so, how do I find one that we can trust? I don't want to be pre-approved for an amount that's unreasonable. or do we talk to a financial planner/advisor first? And how much should we expect to pay up front to someone to help us with this stuff? or should we not expect to pay anyone for services until we actually close a deal??? (See, I'm basically clueless - I know just enough to be afraid to move forward!)</p> <p>I guess I'm just looking for someone who will help us learn more about this process and give us a realistic sense of what we can actually afford so we can move forward in this process.</p> <p>Any suggestions on where to begin? And if there are any bees in the LA area, I'm open to suggestions too! Thanks all! </p>