- Divorce Decree (if applicable)
- Discharge Papers (if applicable)
- Bankruptcy Papers (if applicable)
- Pay Stubs (one month)
- IRS W-2's (last two years)
- Tax Returns (last two years)
- Bank Statements (last two months)
- Authorization & $22 to pull your credit report
Prequalified is simply getting qualified for a mortgage amount based on verbal information that you, the customer, have provided to me, the Loan Officer. I will issue you a Prequalification Certificate that you can give to your Realtor. This will help you in the buying process, but not as much as getting Pre-Approved.
The Pre-Approval process is a little more involved. To get Pre-Approved we will take a loan application, copy all of your documentation, pull your credit report, and submit your loan to an Underwriter. The Underwriter will review your information and issue an approval with conditions. This approval will be your Credit Approval. You will receive a letter in writing from me telling you that you are Credit Approved with the following conditions. This gives you the peace of mind to go shopping for a home and not to have to worry if you will be approved or not. The reason it is called a Credit Approval is because you are approved but the property is not. A full loan approval is when the you and the property are approved. This process can take 1-3 days.
Most people choose to be Pre-Approved because they can offer this as a bargaining tool in the Offer to Purchase. For example, if a seller has two offers in front of him and one buyer has been Pre-Approved and the other is only Prequalified, then they would probably choose the sure thing.
