Why bother getting pre-approved before shopping for a home?
 
I brought this question up with my dear friend Luke Vandenberg, Mortgage Specialist and this is what he had to say.
 
Top 5 Reasons it's Important: 
1. KNOWLEDGE - Most people when planning a "big ticket" purchase like furniture or appliances will look at the budget, see what they can afford to spend, and shop with a plan. Shopping for a house should be no different! Why wouldn't you want to know exactly what you can afford before you hit the streets?
 
2. POWER - You know that old saying "knowledge is power"? Well, that's true for home shopping as well. When it comes time to put in your offer, especially in a multiple offer situation, knowing that you're pre-approved and ready to make that purchase makes your offer more attractive to the seller. It allows you to put a shorter timeline in place for the financing condition and puts you in a much better position than someone who is not pre-approved.
 
3. LOWER YOUR STRESS - When you find your dream home and the time comes to put in an offer, there's already a lot going on. Between putting in the offer, negotiating, inspections, and getting ready to make the move, you may feel stressed. Why add more stress by having to run around to find out if you can actually afford that home, when doing it upfront will remove a good portion of stress at a time when you've got more than enough to think about!
 
4. SAVE TIME - This is closely tied to number 3, but not only will it lower your stress level, it will save you time as well. Instead of running around to meetings and gathering paperwork, you can sit back and let the pros you picked handle it all because you did the heavy lifting up front! 
 
5. SAVE YOURSELF HEARTBREAK - What if you spent all your time looking at homes in a certain price point, fell in love with one, got excited and wrote an offer only to find out that, for reasons you weren't even aware of, you can't actually afford that level of home? Not only would you be heartbroken about losing that home, but there's a good chance that the homes you can afford will not measure up to that standard, making it much harder to find "the one". Shopping within your budget will save you that pain.
 
So do yourself and your Realtor a favour and talk to your mortgage professional BEFORE you start shopping, you'll be happy you did!

- Luke Vandenberg, Mortgage Specialist Castle Mortgage Group