Redfin

JULY 31, 2025

Key Takeaways: Mortgage pre-approval involves a hard credit inquiry, which may lower your score slightly. Multiple pre-approvals within a 14-45 day window count as one inquiry for scoring purposes. When you’re preparing to buy a home, one of the first steps you’ll likely take is getting pre-approved for a mortgage.

Pre-approval

Redfin

AUGUST 5, 2025

If you’re a first-time home buyer building a home, you’ll have a different experience than someone buying an existing home on the open market. Existing homes are homes that are owned and occupied before being listed on the market. Pre-qualification is typically the first step in the process for a first-time home buyer building a house.

Pre-qualification

Redfin

JULY 30, 2025

In today’s competitive housing market, it’s not just about the price — it’s about presenting yourself as the most appealing buyer. Get pre-approved for a mortgage and have cash ready One of the biggest signals to sellers that you’re serious is a mortgage pre-approval letter.

Earnest money deposit

Redfin

JULY 17, 2025

If you’re selling or buying a home in a competitive market, you might hear the term best and final offer (BAFO) thrown around. Imagine a seller puts their home on the market and gets five offers all at once. Getting pre-approved so the seller knows you’re financially ready. The buyer’s ability to close at the agreed price.

Earnest money deposit

Lighter Side of Real Estate

MARCH 5, 2025

In competitive markets, where demand outpaced supply, buyers had fewer options, and backing out of a contract wasnt something many considered unless something major went wrong. 1) Price Your Home Strategically Overpricing a home can be risky in any market, but when buyers have more choices, they become even more price-sensitive.

Purchase and sale agreement

The Mortgage Report

JUNE 10, 2025

Getting Pre-Approved Down Payment Assistance Buying With Low Credit Buying With Low Income Buying With A Disability Who Has The Best Mortgage Rates? These programs vary by amount granted, qualifications, repayment rules, and location. How Much Home Can I Afford? Over 2,000 DPA programs exist across the U.S.

FHA 203k rehab loan

Redfin

JUNE 13, 2025

Still, each home purchase is different, the market may look very different, and your goals might have shifted. Market conditions may be different Even if your first home purchase was recent, the housing market could have shifted dramatically. In a buyer’s market : There are more homes available than buyers looking to purchase.

Debt-to-income ratio

HomeLight

APRIL 30, 2025

As buyers wrestle with high interest rates, homes are spending an average of 60 days on the market before getting a signed purchase contract and even longer in some cities. In January, the median number of days a property spent on the market was about 84 days. Statewide, homes are moving faster than they were earlier in the year.

Sales

Redfin

JULY 30, 2025

On top of that, it’s also smart to check your local housing market trends and mortgage interest rates. Your mortgage rate will not change, regardless of market rates rising or falling. Lock in rates: Once you’ve found a good rate, lock it in to protect yourself from market fluctuations.

Pre-approval

The Mortgage Report

JULY 1, 2025

Getting Pre-Approved Down Payment Assistance Buying With Low Credit Buying With Low Income Buying With A Disability Who Has The Best Mortgage Rates? These numbers indicate that buyers nowadays are feeling the pinch of today’s market. How Much Home Can I Afford? VA home loans rose to 7.2%

Loans

Rochester Real Estate

NOVEMBER 5, 2015

We will explore the complexities and offers tips for making simultaneous offers in the real estate market. Begin by confirming your loan approval and securing a complete and documented pre-approval from your lender. This includes considering financial stability, loan pre-approval, and contingencies.

Earnest money deposit

Redfin

JULY 31, 2025

Look into first-time homebuyer benefits Many programs are designed to make homeownership more accessible for first-time buyers by reducing upfront costs, lowering monthly payments, and helping with mortgage qualification. Adjustable-Rate Mortgage (ARM): Starts with a lower fixed rate, then adjusts based on market trends.

Purchase and sale agreement

Marco Santarelli

JUNE 28, 2025

Understanding what influences these rates can help you when entering the market. It's essential to factor in that for larger loan amounts, many lenders may require a larger down payment or stricter qualification criteria. Pre-approval helps in identifying appropriate price ranges and strengthens your negotiating position with sellers.

Mortgages

The Mortgage Report

JUNE 12, 2025

Getting Pre-Approved Down Payment Assistance Buying With Low Credit Buying With Low Income Buying With A Disability Who Has The Best Mortgage Rates? Easier loan approval — disability income counts toward qualification. How Much Home Can I Afford? Property tax exemptions in many states. Verify your VA loan eligibility.

VA loan

The Close

APRIL 8, 2025

These help agents save a tremendous amount of time while also making them more efficient by streamlining processes, automating tasks, enhancing client interactions, and providing marketing and other business insights. Agent Images web design services are a more ideal fit for those marketing to the luxury market.

Staging

The Mortgage Report

JULY 7, 2025

Getting Pre-Approved Down Payment Assistance Buying With Low Credit Buying With Low Income Buying With A Disability Who Has The Best Mortgage Rates? Whether you’re paying a high rate as a result of market conditions or because your credit is shaky, you may find your expensive borrowing a real financial burden.

Equity

Rochester Real Estate

NOVEMBER 5, 2015

For example, if you use a bank for your loan you may already have a pre-existing relationship with them and they sometimes offer very competitive interest rates. Have you tried calling a bank on a Saturday night to get a pre-approval letter? It lead to investors snapping up too many homes even as the market started to slow.

Finance

Housing Wire

MAY 8, 2025

We do have qualification for agents coming into the Aperture brand because weve seen a lot of the other luxury brands allow anyone to enter their brand and it becomes a bit diluted. I think the big thing is that it was created for todays market, Palmer said.

Branding

BAM Media

FEBRUARY 21, 2025

or The Difference Between Pre-Approval and Pre-Qualification. Hook them with content thats relevant to their everyday livesrestaurants, coffee shops, bars, farmers’ markets, pickleball locations, hiking spots. Im writing this blog to say: Maybe you shouldnt.

Earnest money deposit

Marco Santarelli

MARCH 23, 2025

The average rates currently observed in the market are as follows: the 30-year fixed mortgage rate is at 6.51% , the 20-year fixed rate sits at 6.25% , and the 15-year fixed rate is recorded at 5.89%. Market Speculation: There's optimism for further potential drops in rates due to economic factors.

Mortgages

Redfin

JULY 7, 2025

Whether you’re in Dallas or Orlando , laws and market conditions can affect how, and if, you can purchase a home before your divorce is finalized. Get clear pre-approval: Make sure your mortgage pre-approval reflects your current debts, legal obligations, and post-divorce income so you know what you can truly afford.

Debt-to-income ratio

Housing Wire

MAY 7, 2025

Weve also seen a slowdown in pre-approvals for new mortgages as lenders are recalculating DTI ratios with student loans back on the books. King is concerned that borrowers who missed payments will have unrealistic expectations about their mortgage qualifications.

Loans

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 5, 2021

Housing market inventory is low right now. Low inventory means fewer choices for homebuyers, but for years enterprising real estate agents have worked around tight market conditions by searching for off-market homes that fit their clients’ specifications. You can send an offer to any off-market property,” Clark said. “So

Agents

HomeLight

JUNE 19, 2023

Like pre-qualification or pre-approval. Let’s lay it all out: How pre-qualifications and pre-approvals are similar Pre-qualifications and pre-approvals have a few things in common. Learn More What’s a pre-qualification? What’s a pre-approval?

Pre-qualification

Keeping Current Matters

AUGUST 27, 2020

You may have heard that pre-approval is a great first step in the homebuying process. Pre-approval from a lender is the only way to do this. This paperwork (the pre-approval letter) shows sellers you’re a qualified buyer, something that can really help you stand out from the crowd in the current ultra-competitive market.

Pre-approval

Housing Wire

JULY 4, 2024

As Gen-Z enters the housing market , many say they’ve given up on buying a home. Some blame millennials and some blame boomers, while others say that, in fact, boomers are the ones who faced the toughest headwinds when entering the housing market. There’s a lot of finger-pointing and very few solutions.

Pre-qualification

Housing Wire

JUNE 1, 2022

Amid the traditionally busy spring homebuying season, industry professionals are looking for new paths to profitability in a tight purchase market. As these hurdles to homebuying collide with more Millennials entering the housing market, a focus on efficient automation and custom solutions could be the key to success in 2022.

Pre-qualification

Keeping Current Matters

JUNE 22, 2021

You may have been told that it’s important to get pre-approved at the beginning of the homebuying process, but what does that really mean, and why is it so important? Pre-approval from a lender is the only way to know your true price range and how much money you can borrow for your loan. offers for sellers to consider. Bottom Line.

Pre-approval

Realtor.com

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

designer491/Shutterstock What is a pre-qualification letter? I tell most people they can take that pre-qualification letter and throw it in the trash,” says Patty Arvielo , a mortgage banker and president and founder of New American Funding, in Tustin, CA. What to know about a pre-qualification letter.

Pre-qualification

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

“Soft credit pulls are a critical tool that our member mortgage loan originators use to work with underserved borrowers — particularly borrowers with credit blemishes — to improve their credit score and ultimately obtain a pre-qualification or an actual mortgage loan,” the CHLA wrote in a letter to the three credit bureaus on Wednesday.

Pre-qualification

Housing Wire

MAY 12, 2022

Worsening market conditions are only going to accelerate an already hyper-competitive mortgage lending industry that is still learning to adapt to post-pandemic homebuying behaviors. Yes, a customer should be able to fill out a pre-qualification application digitally. Market research backs that up. Rates are rising.

Lending

Housing Wire

JULY 30, 2021

Josh Lehr: Pre-pandemic, online home buying existed, but over the last year, shopping online for mortgages became much more popular and convenient as meeting in person with a loan officer was not an option. As refinances plateau and the market shifts to a purchase environment, lenders will need to do more with less.

Pre-qualification

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

This century has seen a rapid shift to a digital-first economy from the internet to portals to email marketing to smartphones to social media. This has heightened the need for digital tools for marketing, viewing, financing and closing on home purchases. VL: So many areas could benefit by embracing digitalization.

Pre-qualification

Housing Wire

AUGUST 13, 2021

Existing investors and others including Andreessen Horowitz, Singapore’s GIC, GGV Capital and Moore Specialty Credit participated in the round, which pre-empted a capital raise that could have featured new investors, she said. We’re aiming to bring a legitimacy to alternative home financing options,” said Hefets.

Pre-qualification

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

One of the ways that RMF approached the decision to tackle lowering the minimum age requirement on Equity Elite came from the product development team pursuing different options to enhance its offerings, similarly to the way the idea to streamline borrower qualification came about.

Mortgages

Housing Wire

SEPTEMBER 19, 2024

Source of income” discrimination does have to do with the rental market (here is the latest HUD map with “source of income” protections). I thought “source of income” discrimination had to do with rental properties like “section 8” (or what’s officially called the Housing Choice Voucher Program). Yes, you are right. It is both.

Pre-qualification

Housing Wire

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

Continued strength in the rental market, punitive LLPAs from the Agencies and the continued growth of short-term rentals such as AirBnB and VRBO all contribute to this trend.” Their performance may depend on certain aspects of a property’s rental market (e.g., Rent growth has also slowed to 10.1% in April, according to CoreLogic.

Pre-qualification