It is not uncommon that we get the question, “Why do I need to get prequalified for financing before I find the right house”. It’s a valid question, however, in today’s market place we are seeing a record number of interested buyers have difficulty when it comes to navigating through the mortgage maze.

Getting prequalified is a standard step when house hunting, but if there’s too big of a time lag between when the client is prequalified and an offer is made, significant financial details may have changed. For the most part, the tighter the time frame of prequalifying, making an offer, and closing on a house, the better the chances that the deal will stick.

Therefore, if you are serious about buying your next home, it is imperative that you have a recent qualification letter. Furthermore, it is very important that you avoid any new purchases until after your closing. Its nice to have the new car, new appliances and new furniture pre-purchased to go into your new home. However, when your lender does their last minute credit check while you are sitting at the closing table to make sure you still qualify, its a real bummer to find out your new liabilities have just cost you a new asset.

In short, keep you credit clean and make sure your lender letter is current and prepaired. Sellers will want to see it with your contract and it can literally make the difference between getting your offer accepted or declined because you are a well prepaired buyer.