If you are thinking about buying a home, it is absolutely critical, especially in our highly competitive Seattle market, to get pre-approved for a loan before making that first offer. When you find yourself in a multiple offer situation as so many buyers these days do, you want to make sure that you are positioning yourself as the strongest candidate in the mix and one of the surest ways to that is to have your approval in place.
But when should you first talk to a lender? Answer: The sooner the better. In fact, even if you aren’t sure buying is on your 3, 6 or 12 month plan, talking with a lender in advance to get a feel for the loan process and learning about the different loan types you may qualify for (FHA, VA, Conventional, Variable, etc.) helps make you a more educated buyer. Plus, your loan officer can help review your current financial situation and credit report to help develop a plan for improving your score and overall buying power if things aren’t quite where they need to be. Knowing these key details in advance can help save you hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars – not to mention hours of time – spent going through the home buying process only to find out that you didn’t get approved.
So if you are interested in talking to a great lender, let us know. We can recommend someone who can help guide you through the lending process and we know will get your loan to the closing table once you find that dream house.
