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Today, we want to discuss the importance of the pre-approval letter. When you work with one of the agents on our team, we are going to push you to get a pre-approval letter. It's important to know we're not doing this for our benefit - rather,  we're trying to help make the process smoother for you. Here's a handful of reasons we think it's important:

• Review all of the different loan options available to you with your lender. Believe it or not, there are dozens of options available to you. Whether it be a 15-year or 30-year loan, a fixed- or adjustable-rate loan, a USDA, VA, or an FHA loan - we want to find out what loan is right for you and your particular situation.

• Find out what loan amount is right for you. What loan program will meet the budget you have set up? The last thing we want to do is put you in a great home, but leave you without enough money to live on. When you sit down with one of our lenders, they'll help you figure out what kind of budget you'll need to live comfortably, and work backwards to figure out what loan amount you can afford. That way, we make sure we're showing you homes that are going to fit well within your budget and comfort level, which is the most important thing to us here at Whissel Realty.

• Get an idea of where your credit is at. The lender is going to pull your credit before getting pre-approved - this is for your own good. They want to pull it because they want to know your credit score and see if there are any inaccuracies. If there are inaccuracies in your credit score, they will be identified and cleaned up. Your score could jump 100 points and end up saving you a lot of money on your monthly payments. The lender will take a look at your score and will help you get it as high as possible, so you can get the best possible loan rate.

• Have a pre-approval letter when the seller asks for it. Most sellers won't even look at your offer unless it has a pre-approval letter alongside it. You really want to make sure you have a letter in hand - that way, when you find the perfect home, you can put the offer in immediately. You don't want to find the perfect home and then go talk to a lender; it could take two or three days to get the pre-approval letter, and by then the house could be sold. We really don't want that to happen to you.

If you have any questions about the pre-approval letter, about what you need to do to get one, or if you want to get connected with one of our awesome lenders, give us a call or visit our website at WhisselRealty.com. Thanks, and we look forward to talking with you soon!