General Pre-Approval
If you want to know what you can buy, you need to know what you can afford. Most lenders will provide you with a pre-approval letter that will tell you how much you can borrow (e.g. $800,000 loan) and when this pre‑approval expires.
Specific Pre-Approval
When you are ready to make an offer on a specific property, lenders will provide you with a specific pre-approval for that property. This means you have the green light to bid on/make an offer for a specific property.
Warning
HouseMe Legal strongly recommends you do not make an offer without pre-approval. Your life will be a lot less stressful if you can get your finance pre-approved by your lender before you sign an agreement.
Mortgage Broker
Want some help getting pre-approval? HouseMe Legal recommends contacting a mortgage broker because
- they can advise you how to structure your loan and pay it off faster;
- they may be able to get you better than advertised interest rates with a lender; and
- it won’t cost you anything as the mortgage broker gets paid by the lender.
