Serious About Buying A Home: Get Pre-Qualified

There are usually three stages to buying a home: the pre-home search, the home search and finally, being under contract. The initial pre-home-search refers to your goals,  expectations, and your budget. And by budget, it meant what you have been pre-qualified for.

Getting pre-qualified is the initial step in the mortgage process, and it’s generally fairly simple. As a home buyer, you will be pre-qualified by a lender depending on your income and debt. More often, clients reach out to real estate agents but have not yet  spoken to a lender. This is totally fine. However, real estate agents may just be limited in giving you recommendations but talking to lender will ensure you a smooth loan application process from start to finish.

Pre-Qualification

The point of pre-qualification is to find out how much banks will lend you for a home purchase and at what rate. This is why clients need to be pre-qualified first; setting up searches, etc. is difficult without knowing how much money you have to work with.

Assessment

A lender uses your basic income, debt and asset information you supply to establish a general picture of your financial situation. Your credit report will be pulled then run through an automated system which determines whether or not you qualify—and for how much.

The Right Time

Immediately! Before you even begin looking at houses, it’ll be useful to have a lender tell you where you’re at financially and help guide your next steps (even if it’s six months to a year ahead of time). Better than anyone else, a lender will be able to tell you how to get your finances in line for a purchase.

Pre-Qualified vs Pre-Approved

Getting pre-qualified is different from being pre-approved. Pre-qualification relies on the information you tell your lender; pre-qualification verifies all those facts. Pre-approval is better than pre-qualification in the housing market, so ask your lender and let them know if you want to go that far.

Getting pre-qualified for a home loan is daunting for anyone. It is best to find a mortgage professional first. If you can not find one, reach out to us to help you find the best mortgage loan to fit your needs.

Owning a home in Bakersfield is achievable. See how far your budget will go with our available Homes For Sale in Bakersfield today.