Should you talk to a mortgage professional before house hunting?

Absolutely! Even if you haven't so much as picked out houses to visit yet, it's important to see your mortgage professional 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?

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When we pre-qualify you, we  help you determine how much of a monthly mortgage payment you can afford, and how much the bank can loan you.  We do this by considering your income and debts, your employment and residence situations, your available funds for down payment and required reserves, and some other things. It's short and to the point, and we keep the paperwork to a minimum!

Once you qualify, we give you what's called a Pre-Qualification Letter (your real estate agent might call it a "pre-qual"), which says that we are working with you to find the best loan to meet your needs and that we're confident you'll qualify for a loan for a certain amount.

When you find a house that catches your eye, 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. Your real estate agent will help you decide on an appropriate offer, but being pre-qualified gives you the confidence to know you can follow through. You also have the security of knowing you can call me to see what your monthly payment would be on a particular purchase price. Since I've already had a chance to find the loan program for you, I can quote you a payment over the phone that will be a pretty good estimate of what your final payment will be. That gives you some peace of mind.

More importantly, the home seller is assured, to some degree, that you qualify for a mortgage and the deal will go through. You have the clout of a buyer ready to make the deal right now!

You can always use the calculators available on our site to get an idea of how much mortgage you can afford -- but it's important to meet with me. For one thing, you'll need a Pre-Qualification Letter! For another thing, mortgage calculators don't evaluate income, job stability, credit score and other things that affect how much a lender is willing to lend you.  You need the help of a mortgage professional for real answers!