Many people do not like to hear this, but, the journey begins by getting a preapproval from a reputable lender. Why, many people ask me? I'd like to give you an analogy that most people can relate to: you go to buy a brand new luxury car, or a great sports car, you negotiate the price and the options, you spend hours doing this, then the credit department turns you down. You've driven the best, now it will be quite difficult to find an economy car that you like nearly as much. Had you driven a great economy car right off the bat, chances are you would have been quite happy with it. Or, at the other extreme, you go out, test drive an economy car, but you really had your heart set on a sports car or a luxury car but just didn't think you could afford it. You buy the economy car, but you are never quite happy with it and you always question yourself on this purchase.
If you get preapproved for a home, you know exactly how much home you can afford, and you start your search in the right place, avoiding heart break if you find the perfect home that you later can't get a loan for. Or, at the other end of things, you avoid looking at many homes that you perhaps like, even love, then you go for your preapproval, and find out you can comfortably afford to spend more. Now you may have to start your search all over again.
But, more importantly, most home sellers will not accept an offer without a current preapproval letter. So, even if you do find a home in the right price range, wouldn't it be awful to loose the house to someone else just because you didn't have your preapproval?
I would be happy to recommend a few outstanding lenders to help you get started on your real estate journey!
