Absolutely! Always! Even if you haven't so much as picked out houses to visit yet, it's important to see your professional mortgage advisor first. Why?  We can guide you in the most overlooked part of home buying - finding out just how much home - price awareness is essential - you can and should look for based on your very own income, assets, debt service, plans, and payment comfort level.  And we will arm you with a Pre-Approval Letter, which for house hunting is as important as that warning in the famous credit card commercial - "Don't Leave Home (or shop for one) Without It!"  Here's why:

When we pre-approve* you, we help you determine how much of a monthly mortgage payment you can afford, and how much we can loan you. We do this by considering your income and debts, your employment and residence situations, your available funds for down payment and required reserves, and some other things (self-employed borrowers have different information to provide, but that's universal in lending). It's short and to the point, and we keep the paperwork to a minimum!  The more accurate and current the information you provide, the faster we go. 

Once you qualify, we give you what's called a Pre-Approval Letter (your real estate agent might call it a "pre-qual" or "pre-qualification letter" - NOT!), which says that we are working with you to find the best loan to meet your needs and that we're confident you'll qualify for a loan for a certain amount based on the information you've provided us about your income, assets, and credit.  So you've been OK'd - next your home needs to be OK'd as well.

When you find a house that catches your eye, and you decide to make an offer, being pre-approved for a mortgage will do a couple of things. First, it lets you know how much you can offer. Your real estate agent will help you decide on an appropriate offer, but being pre-approval gives you the confidence to know you can follow through.

More importantly, to a home seller, your being pre-approved is like you walked into their house with a suitcase full of cash to make the deal! They won't have to wonder if they're wasting their time because you'll never qualify for a mortgage to finance the amount you're offering for the home. You have the clout of a buyer ready to make the deal right now!

You can always use the calculators available on our site to get an idea of how much mortgage you can afford -- but it's important to meet with us. For one thing, you'll need that Pre-Approval Letter! For another thing, we may be able to find and customize a different mortgage program that fits your needs better.  Even if you've been pre-approved by another lender, we need to meet - much of what we experience with many out there is sloppy, error-filled, and misleading and often won't fly in the end.  Let's make certain you are truly ready to shop homes.

*This is important!  A "pre-approval" is a decision based upon your real-life financial situation.  A "pre-qualification" is little more than a "guess", and carries no weight with home sellers.  We explained this on our weekly radio show - "Your Home-Your Money".  A real estate agent can only "pre-qualify" - only a lender can "pre-approve" you.