Because there are 3 people who will benefit from you pre-approval. You, your Agent, and the seller from whom you eventually buy a home! Preapproval puts a commitment behind your home-shopping interest. That's why you should get preapproved before you even visit your first home.

YOU:

The mortgage pre-approval step is a relatively simple one, but it is an important one. It begins the process of formally applying for a mortgage, and it gives everyone involved-especially you-a clear sense of the direction they should be headed.

YOU'RE AGENT:

By knowing what your financial parameters are, you Agent can spend more time looking for houses that “fit” and less time pursuing dead ends. No matter how much you might want a 4000 square foot home for $275,000.00, if your qualification says $125,000; your qualifications say $125,000.00.

THE SELLER:

Want to strengthen your bargaining position? Get pre-approved. Want your offer to stand out in a case-of multiple offers for the same house? Get pre-approved. Look at it from the seller’s perspective. If you had 2 offers on the table for your house, one from a fully pre-approved buyer and the other from an “I’ll get around to that soon” buyer-to which offer would you devote the most attentions? Even if the pre-approved buyer’s offer was $1000.00 less, would you take the chance on the buyer that perhaps may not be qualified? When it comes to a seller evaluating offers, “a bird in the hand…”definitely applies.

Also it will help you to enjoy a faster closing period, because there is no window period while your loan application is processed, the lender can speed up the entire processing procedure.