You might be a spring home buyer, eager to start looking at your 2014 South Bay property options. If so, there’s one phrase you should hear and act on: Let’s get you pre-qualified! Recently, I have noticed more and more people getting pre-qualified making the loan and buying process smoother and trouble-free, especially for first-time buyers in the South Bay. Ideally, getting a pre-qualification happens before you even start shopping for a new home.
Winter usually puts a damper on house hunting in the Beach Cities; the holidays prevent people from listing their home and from actively buying. People also tend to associate spring with change, cleaning, and getting a new start, so often wait until after the new year to set their real estate transactions in motion. Now that it’s spring, buyers are going to be stepping in, along with some sellers that have been holding out, and the local real estate market is going to be booming by June 2014. When a borrower is pre-qualified for a loan with Watermark, they already have a commitment letter from Watermark Home Loans even though they haven’t placed an offer on a particular property yet. This allows the borrower to start the borrowing process earlier and to know exactly how much money they can borrow. This is different than a pre-approval, which is a general, but not definite, acknowledgement from a lender that they will probably loan money to you at a certain amount. A pre-qualification means we have detailed information already and have let you know about any potential pitfalls or additional information we need.
As a buyer with a commitment letter in place, you will have better negotiating power when bidding on a property because you can prove that you’ll be able to pay and provide the down payment. If you have questions about pre-qualification, pre-approvals, and commitment letters, contact me and I’ll be happy to tell you exactly what you need and how we can get it for you.
