SHOULD YOU TALK TO A MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL BEFORE HOUSE HUNTING?

Absolutely! Even if you haven't so much as picked out houses to visit yet, it's important to see your mortgage professional first so you know how much you can afford.

When we pre-approve you, we help you determine how much of a monthly mortgage payment you can afford, and how much we can loan you. We do this by considering information such as your credit score, income, debts, your employment and residence situations, your available funds for downpayment and required reserves. Further, we obtain an automated underwriting decision with one or more of the 20 lending sources with which we work.

Once pre-approved, we will issue a pre-approval letter to you indicating the loan progam, interest rate, payment and total amount of the loan for which you qualify.

When you find a house that catches your eye, and you decide to make an offer, being pre-approved for a mortgage will do a couple of things. First, it lets you know how much you can offer. Your real estate agent will help you decide on an appropriate offer, but being pre-approved gives you the confidence to know you can close the deal.

More importantly, your pre-approval letter will let your sellers know that you can close the deal. You have the clout of a buyer ready to make the deal right now!

You can always use the calculators available on our site to get an idea of how much mortgage you can afford -- but it's important to meet with us. For one thing, you'll need a pre-approval letter.  For another thing, we may be able to find a different mortgage program that better fits your needs.