Unless you are lucky enough to have oodles of cash at your disposal, it's a necessity to have a lender pre-approval before going out hunting for a home. 

Sometimes buyers say they have one, but in actual fact, they have a worthless piece of paper which states they have a pre-qualification. A pre-qual, is not the same, in fact it's hardly worth the paper it's written on.  A pre-approval entails a lot more research on a mortgage originators part, and if you meet the criteria, you will be pre-approved to buy a home within the range stated. Most often, buyers don't see the necessity of going this step until they find the perfect home and I can't tell you how many disappointed Realtors and Buyers there are out there. If this step in the home buying process hasn't been taken care of prior to finding the dream home, then it will likely sell to another more prepared buyer who has been correctly counseled by their Realtor.

Want to know more? Give Barry a call @ 914-934-4341 No obligation, just the information you need to make the right decisions when buying a home.