When you become serious about buying Columbus OH homes for sale, your first step should be to go to a lender and get pre-approved. A pre-approval letter will help you narrow your search right from the start, and will place you in a position of strength when it comes time to make an offer on Columbus houses.
Here’s why getting pre-approved is so important:
- You’ll save time by knowing what price home you can afford. There’s no use looking at luxury homes if your income can’t support the monthly payments. A pre-approval letter will specify the maximum loan amount.
- A Columbus real estate agent will take you more seriously if you have a pre-approval letter. Realtors need to know up front that you are a serious buyer, so their investment of time working with you is a good one. A pre-approval letter will show the realtor what you can afford to look at. She’ll then be better able to help you identify homes to consider and help you work through any negotiations.
- As you look at potential homes, you’ll never have to worry about whether or not you can afford the property. This peace-of-mind will help you look at a listing objectively, and you’ll be able to spend your time concentrating on the home’s features rather than its affordability.
- A pre-approval letter lets the seller know that you are ready to buy and that you will most likely get a mortgage loan if they accept your offer. If multiple buyers are interested in the same property, the offers that come from pre-approved buyers will be taken more seriously.
- The mortgage approval process takes up most of the time necessary to prepare for a property closing. If you are pre-approved, you have already submitted most of your important financial records to the lender. Then once you get an offer accepted, the closing can happen in 3-4 weeks rather than the standard 4-8. Being able to offer the seller a quick closing makes you a very attractive buyer and gives you more negotiating power.
While being pre-approved does not guarantee you will get a mortgage loan, the chances that you will be turned down are much smaller. So save yourself time and emotional stress by getting pre-approved for a home loan. And make sure to call Susanne at 614-975-9650 if you have any questions about how to get pre-approved.