What's the Difference Between Pre-Qualification and Pre-Approval?

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 
Call me at (970) 418-0183 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation

Today we'll discuss the difference between a pre-qualification letter and a pre-approval letter. 

A pre-qualification letter is very easy to attain.  You simply call a lender and tell them your name, address, social security number, and how much money you think you have. The lender runs a credit report, and then, based on just that small amount of information, they type up a letter saying that you are pre-qualified. 

In order to get a pre-approval letter, you have to go through a real process. You provide your taxes, paystubs, and bank statements, and they run a credit report. When we send a pre-approval to a seller, they know that the lender is sure that you are truly approved to buy a home. 

In our current market, we're starting to see multiple offers and a lot more competition. Having a pre-approval letter puts you far ahead of other buyers who only have pre-qualification letters. 

We do ask our clients to get pre-approval letters while we're out looking at properties. That way, when we find you the right home, we know that we are ready to put in a strong offer. 

Whether you're getting a pre-qualification or pre-approval letter, it is typical that you would pay for the credit report. However, this is the only cost to our buyers. 

If you would like to get a pre-approval letter before looking at properties, give us a call for a list of our preferred lenders. 

What's Happening in Summit County & Vail?

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 
Call our team at (970) 333-3029 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation

Hey everybody, thanks for joining us today for a market update on the latest news for the Summit County & Vail real estate markets. Right now, our market is extremely unique. It's more of a seller's market because of our lack of inventory (just 700 homes on the market). When buyers come to Summit County and Vail they don't have a lot to look at, which is great news for sellers thinking about putting their homes on the market. The best homes can get a little more money from buyers than they could last year. 

The price point finally went up this last quarter, and most homes saw at least a 10% increase in home values. This is another great sign for sellers, but also a warning sign for buyers not to wait too long to purchase before homes get too expensive. 

When July 1 comes, our inventory will double. We could have up to 4,000 homes on the market at some point in the summer, which is when we do about 65% of our business. The longer you wait, the more competition you will have to deal with. 

If you are thinking of selling, conditions are perfect. Sellers are even receiving multiple offers. If you're thinking of buying, taking advantage of our historically low interest rates will save you thousands of dollars over the life of your loan. 

If you have any other questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We will talk to you soon!