Why You Need a Pre-Approval Before Shopping for a Tucson Home

I’ve had a couple of calls recently from folks that seem to be leery of talking to a lender. They want to go look at homes around Tucson, but aren’t willing to have a 20 minute conversation with a lender first.

So let’s dispel some fears and misconceptions.

First, having your credit pulled to see what kind of loan you qualify for doesn’t really hurt your credit score – estimates are that you’ll get dinged about 5 points. But you’ve got to do it to get the loan. Good news is that you can have as many lenders you want to talk to pull your credit score in 14 days, and it only counts as one time. So whether you talk to one lender or ten, it all only counts once.

Second, you need a preapproval from a lender in order to make an offer on a house. In 7 years practicing real estate in Tucson, I’ve never seen a seller accept an offer where a Buyer didn’t provide a lender signed loan approval.

It doesn’t make sense to go out and shop for homes when you can’t buy the one you want when you find it! Not having that pre-approval in hand puts you in a position where you can’t act on the right house when you find it.

And finally, until you’ve talked to a lender, you have no idea what kind of payment you’ll have. Yes, you can go online and fill out loan payment calculators, but your interest rate is heavily influenced by how much you have to put down and what kind of credit score you have. And only a lender can tell you what rates apply to you and your specific situation.

Getting a pre-approval is a relatively painless process for most people. And it puts you in a position where you have the most power and knowledge and control over your home purchase. If you need a good lender recommendation, contact me and I’ll share!