OK, you know that it is a seller’s market. There is a real shortage of houses for sale in many neighborhoods. Very often there are multiple offers for the same house. And the choice is not all about price. A seller is not going to favor an offer that might have contingencies. Cash is king. The next best thing is a pre-approved buyer – with a REAL pre-approval.

Get a REAL Pre-Approval

Some of you may not like this, but a real pre-approval requires work. There’s a documentation and time investment that starts well before you ever make a purchase offer.

Not only will this step tell you how much home you can actually afford, it is a vital part of a making strong offer in a seller’s market.

A real pre-approval requires all your income, asset and explanatory documents to be gathered, sorted and submitted to an actual human underwriter for an actual underwriting approval. You don’t just get validation of your qualifications, you become a better buyer.

But I haven’t even found the house yet? What if I don’t find a house at all?

Sorry, but this is a step the strong – the ones that you keep losing out to on your offers – buyers take. If you don’t find a house at all you will have wasted some effort gathering all the needed documentation – for sure. That said, it’s also self perpetuating.

The strong, human underwritten, mortgage commitment helps you win purchase offers. Without it, you might just fulfill your own prophecy and “not find a house at all”.

Be the strong buyer, do the work upfront. Period.

Whether buying your first home or your fifth, doing the appropriate legwork when selecting your real estate and mortgage team along with making sure you’re properly pre-approved before you start house hunting will dramatically increase your chances of home buying success.

It’ll save you a heck of a lot of stress during the process too.

Ruth Schoenherr is a mortgage broker who will help you find home loans in the Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Safety Harbor, St Petersburg and Tampa Bay area. For more information, go to her web site at www.ClearwaterMortgageBroker.net.