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Why Is It so Important to Be Pre-Approved in the Homebuying Process?

Why Is It so Important to Be Pre-Approved in the Homebuying Process? | Simplifying The Market

You may have heard that pre-approval is a great first step in the homebuying process. But why is it so important? When looking for a home, the temptation to fall in love with a house thats outside your budget is very real. So, before you start shopping around, its helpful to know your price range, what youre comfortable within a monthly mortgage payment, and ultimately how much money you can borrow for your loan. Pre-approval from a lender is the only way to do this.

According to a recent survey from realtor.com, many buyers are making the mistake of skipping the pre-approval step in the homebuying process:

Of over 2,000 active home shoppers who plan to purchase a home in the next 12 months, only 52% obtained a pre-approval letter before beginning their home search, which means nearly half of home buyers are missing this crucial piece of paperwork.

This paperwork (the pre-approval letter) shows sellers youre a qualified buyer, something that can really help you stand out from the crowd in the current ultra-competitive market.

How competitive is todays market? Extremely especially among buyers.

With limited inventory, there are many more buyers than sellers right now, and thats fueling the competition. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), homes are receiving an average of 2.9 offers for sellers to negotiate, so bidding wars are heating up.

Pre-approval shows homeowners youre a serious buyer. It helps you stand out from the crowd if you get into a multiple-offer scenario, and these days, its likely. When a seller knows youre qualified to buy the home, youre in a better position to potentially win the bidding war and land the home of your dreams.

Danielle Hale, Chief Economist for realtor.com notes:

For a buyer in a competitive market, its typically essential to have pre-approval done in order to submit an offer, so getting it done before you even look at homes is a smart move that will enable a buyer to move fast to put an offer in on the right home.

In addition, todays housing market is also changing from moment to moment. Interest rates are low, prices are going up, and lending institutions are regularly updating their standards. Youre going to need guidance to navigate these waters, so its important to have a team of professionals (a loan officer and a real estate agent) making sure you take the right steps along the way and can show your qualifications as a buyer at the time you find a home to purchase.

Bottom Line

In a competitive market with low inventory, a pre-approval letter is a game-changing piece of the homebuying process. If youre ready to buy this year, lets connect before you start searching for a home.

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