While today there are alternatives available; a common process of buying a home generally follows this scenario.

You spend weeks or maybe longer searching for a neighborhood that is suitable to your needs and tastes. You may spend days then, looking for homes in that neighborhood that are for sale. For several weeks, weekends are used for visiting "Open Houses" to give you an idea of what you want in your dream home. Your next step would then be to find a real estate agent that will help you to look for homes for sale in the community, which you have decided upon. You do indeed find a home that is "the one"! You feel that you can afford the property and draft an offer to purchase.

The realtor is a professional and will draft the offer so that your interests and deposit are protected. He or she submits the offer and the waiting begins!

Now here is what must happen next.

The seller must accept the offer and then your loan application has to be accepted by your institution. If the offer is accepted or after negotiations have arrived at an agreed upon price, you must now see a loan officer to begin your loan application process.

Loan Application Process
You have found the home of your dreams, and with negotiations the seller has accepted your offer. You now need an approved loan so that you can purchase your dream home. The whole deal depends on this mortgage loan approval. No approval means no loan and no home.

Here is how to go through the traditional loan application process:

First meet with the loan officer and complete the required forms to allow a check into your credit history and verification of your income statement in addition to your debt history. A deposit is often required to cover the cost of this work.

Within three days of making your application, the loan officer supplies you with a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) of your expected closing costs and an explanation of the function of all those costs.

As the loan officer continues with your application process, an appraisal and title report on the home are ordered by the loan officer. Your employer will be asked to verify your income report.

Once the loan officer has all the needed information, your loan will be "approved", "denied", or "suspended" (pending further information).

Obviously this is a long and tedious process which may cause some anxiety and that often is repeated for different homes and through different loan officers.

Isn't there a better way?
It makes sense to secure a loan before going through all the trouble of practically closing on a home and assuming it is yours when perhaps you will not be approved for the loan.

How can this be done? With a Pre-Approved Mortgage Loan.

Being pre-approved gives you the power to know your financial limitations and removes the stress of finding the perfect home only to worry as to whether you'll qualify for the mortgage. A pre-approved buyer has almost as much power (studies show 97%) as cash buyers!

Here is what a Pre-Approval Certificate can do for you:

• It gives you WRITTEN APPROVAL from a lender for SPECIFIC LOAN AMOUNT so that you know exactly what homes to look for, and in what price range you can purchase.
• It gives you PEACE OF MIND knowing that getting the loan you need will NOT be an obstacle to owning your dream home.
• It gives your offer MAXIMUM CREDIBILITY and shows sellers that your offer is a serious one since you have gone to the effort of being pre-approved. A pre-approved mortgage offer receives more attention if multiple offers come in for the same home!