08/28/2026
🏡 A pre-approval letter doesn't necessarily mean you're actually pre-approved.
I had a prospect recently who started the pre-approval process with us. We were collecting income, employment, asset and other documentation to actually verify that everything worked.
She got frustrated with the request to verify 2 years of employment history with dates. We agreed to have a call the next day and walk through with a game plan so she could figure out the work history that night.
The next day when I called - "Never mind. I got a pre-approval letter online last night. I'm all set".
And that's exactly where the problem can start.
A letter can be generated quickly. Actually doing the due diligence to support that letter takes more work.
The risk?
You find a house ❤️
You make an offer 🏡
You spend money on inspections, appraisal, etc. 💰
And THEN the lender discovers a problem that should have been caught before you went under contract.
A good pre-approval isn't about getting a letter as quickly as possible.
It's about knowing you can actually close.
Before you start house hunting, ask your lender: "What have you actually verified?"
That question could save you a lot of time, money and frustration.
If you're thinking about buying, I'm always happy to explain what our pre-approval process looks like.