Unlock Your Dream Home: Learn How to Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage Today!

To buy your first home, it's important to get pre-approved for a mortgage, which is different from getting pre-qualified. Pre-qualification is a basic estimate of what you may qualify for based on your credit score and income information, while pre-approval involves a detailed review of your application by a mortgage underwriter who issues a guaranteed approval and interest rate for 120 days.

Unlock Your Mortgage Potential: Understanding Pre-Approvals and How They Affect Your Credit Score

Checking your credit score for a mortgage pre-approval is considered a hard hit and may affect your credit score, but not significantly. The inquiry will stay on your credit report for up to 36 months, and any other lender or creditor who looks at your file will see the inquiry. However, when using a mortgage broker, the same credit inquiry can be used for 30 days with multiple lenders without impacting your score. You can also check your own credit score through Credit Karma, Transunion, or Equifax without any impact to your score.

Get Pre-Approved