A Pre-Qualification makes sense when you are early in the mortgage or home buying process and are testing the waters. This works well when you do not plan to start looking at properties or making offers for several months or longer. The Pre-Qualification allows you to get a quick look at your financial picture without going through the entire underwriting process. At Heritage Fund, we can do a Pre-Qualification without running your official credit report. You can get Pre-Qualified without obtaining a credit inquiry.

You should get a Pre-Approval when you are ready to seriously look at homes and potentially submit offers. A Pre-Approval will put you in the best position to know how much to offer, increase your chances of your offer being accepted and to close the mortgage loan once your offer is accepted. A Pre-Approval is the next best thing to being an all cash buyer.

No. A Pre-Qualification or Pre-Approval does not commit you to take a loan. It is simply an acknowledgement from the lender that you are eligible to receive a loan if you decide to apply for a loan.

A Pre-Approval usually lasts for 90 days and can be renewed after that by supplying updated financial information to the lender.

No. A Pre-Approval does not guarantee that your final loan will be approved, but it is a very strong indicator that your final application will be approved as long as nothing major changes with your finances in the time between the Pre-Approval and the final application.