Should you get Pre-Qualified before you go house hunting?

Absolutely! Even if you haven't picked out houses to visit yet, it's important to get Pre-Qualified first. Why? What can we do for you if you haven't negotiated a price, and don't know yet how much you want to borrow?

When you get Pre-Qualified with HomeTown Mortgage Services, Inc., we will help you determine how much of a monthly mortgage payment you can afford, and how much you will be able to borrow. We will do this by analyzing your income and debts, your employment and residence situation, your available funds for down payment, closing costs and required reserves, along with other factors that can influence the loan approval decesion. We understand that you are very busy, so our loan application process is short and to the point, and we always do our best to keep the paperwork to a minimum.

Once you we have approved your mortgage loan application, we will give you a Pre-Qualification letter (your Real Estate Agent may call it a "pre-qual"), which states the type of loan you have been approved for and the amount available, if requested. When you find a house and you decide to make an offer, being Pre-Qualified for a mortgage will do a couple of things. First, it lets you know how much you can offer to the seller without exceeding your approved loan amount (your Real Estate Agent will help you decide on an appropriate offer) and gives you the confidence to know you can follow through.

More importantly to a seller, your being Pre-Qualified for a mortgage before making an offer is like you walked into their house with a suitcase full of cash! They won't have to wonder if they're wasting their time because you'll never be able to follow through with the amount you're offering them for their home. You have the clout of a buyer ready to make the deal right now!

You can use the loan calculator available on the home page of this website to get an idea of how much a mortgage payment wil be on a certain amount financed -- but it's important to speak with us to know about other factors that may be included with the monthly payment such as property taxes, homeowners insurance and PMI (if required).

In today's market, most Real Estate Agents will require a buyer to have a letter of Pre-Qualification from a dependable mortgage lender before they will spend their valuable time and resources working for them. If you are buying FSBO, normally the seller will require one as well before accepting any offer.