how do I know when I am pre-approved?

Austin, great question, and congratulations on taking the first step toward homeownership! When purchasing a home, it's important to understand the difference between pre-qualified and pre-approved. Pre-qualified is usually the first step. A mortgage lender estimates how much you might be able to borrow based on financial information you provided, such as your income, debts, and savings. It doesn't necessarily mean your information has been verified. Pre-approval is a more detailed process. A lender reviews your credit history, income, employment, debts, and financial documents to determine how much you qualify to borrow. You'll receive a pre-approval letter showing your potential loan amount.l You'll know you're pre-approved when a mortgage lender has reviewed your financial information, including your income, credit history, debts, and assets, and issued a pre-approval letter stating how much you qualify to borrow, subject to the lender's conditions. If you haven't received that letter, contact your lender and ask about your status. My advice: Get pre-approved before you begin shopping for homes. It helps establish your buying power, shows sellers you're a serious buyer, and allows you to focus on homes within your budget. Being pre-approved doesn't guarantee final loan approval, and you don't have to spend the maximum amount you're approved for. Best wishes on your homebuying jorney, Austin! Brenda Ashby | REALTOR® | JohnHart Real Estate }| DRE License # 01700249

Austin, you know you are preapproved when you are holding a written letter that names a specific loan amount, an expiration date, and the conditions still outstanding. If you do not have that document, you are not preapproved, no matter what anyone told you on the phone. That sounds like a technicality and it is not. There are three different things people call preapproval and they carry very different weight with a seller. Prequalification. You told a lender your income, debts and assets, and they told you roughly what you could borrow. Nothing was verified and often no credit was pulled. This takes ten minutes and it is worth almost nothing in an offer. Preapproval. You submitted an actual application, the lender pulled your credit, and they reviewed pay stubs, W-2s or tax returns, and bank statements. You get a letter with a maximum loan amount. This is the standard, and it is what a listing agent expects to see attached to an offer. Underwritten or verified approval, sometimes called a fully underwritten preapproval or something branded by the lender. Your file has actually gone through an underwriter, not just a loan officer, before you found a house. The only conditions left are the property itself, the appraisal and the title. This is the strongest thing a non-cash buyer can bring, and it is free. It just takes a few extra days. If you are going to be competing at all, ask your lender for this version by name. So call whoever you spoke with and ask two direct questions: did you pull my credit, and can you send me the preapproval letter. Those two answers tell you exactly where you stand. Then read the letter itself, because most buyers never do. Check four things: The loan amount, and separately the purchase price it supports, which are not the same number once you account for your down payment. The expiration date. Most letters are good for 60 to 90 days and then have to be refreshed. The conditions. There is usually a list at the bottom of things still needed. Every item on that list is something that can still sink your loan, so clear them now rather than while you are in contract. The loan type and down payment it assumes, since a letter written for 20 percent down does not support an offer where you put 5 percent down. Two things worth knowing while you are shopping lenders. Get more than one quote. Rate and fees vary meaningfully between lenders on the same borrower, and the way to compare honestly is the Loan Estimate form, which every lender must give you and which is laid out identically so you can put them side by side. Compare page two, not the rate on the phone. Do not worry about the credit hit from shopping, but do it in a tight window. Newer FICO versions treat multiple mortgage inquiries inside a 45-day window as a single inquiry, though older versions use 14 days and you generally will not know which model a given lender uses. So the safe practice is to do all your mortgage applications within about two weeks. Note that mortgage credit scoring changed in 2026, with lenders now able to use Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0, so ask your lender which one they are using if your score is borderline. One last piece of practical advice. From the day you apply until the day you close, do not open new credit, do not finance a car, do not move large sums between accounts without a paper trail, and do not change jobs if you can avoid it. Lenders re-verify right before closing and every one of those things has killed a deal. I work with buyers and sellers across Los Angeles and the South Bay, so Iowa City is not my market, but this part of the process works the same everywhere. If you would like a name for a strong local agent to get you started, I am glad to help. My name is Zoltan Peresztegi. Zoltan