It could be that you have high debt payments per month, or your income is low or your credit score is low. It could be many factors. Email me and we will find out where the low amount came from.

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I'm trying to decide who to choose for my mortgage pre-approval. total mortgage services has the lowest apr that i've been able to find for a conventional 30 year fixed (4.583%), but i hadn't heard of them until yesterday. should i just go through my bank (chase)? ...do i need to shop around, and what exactly should i be basing my decision on?

You can shop around. Base your decision on what the loan origination fees will be and what the stated APR is. To get this lower rate you may need to pay points or higher processing fees.

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I'm just starting the home-buying process. can/should i get multiple pre-approvals from different banks to see who would offer me the "best deal", or do i have to pick one and stick with it. it seems that they can only talk in general terms (which is understandable) until you start the actual loan process, running a credit score check, etc. however, i know that you don't want to check your score too many times in one time period because that will lower your score. so...how do actually know how to choose the mortgage person/bank to go with? i really appreciate any insights or advice...thanks! :-)

Get 2 or three from reputable banks if you don't qualify for an FHA loan. When you present an offer that has two pre-approvals from reputable banks that will put your offer up a notch in the sellers eyes. Someone who is offering 5k more with one approval from a Country Wide/Bank of America isn't a good buyer. They may get to the closing and have no financing. Be very sure that you can afford the taxes, insurance and maintenance on the home you wish to buy. If you are paying 1000k a month rent that does not mean you can afford the same amount in a mortgage. Just please don't buy beyond your means. My hubby and I just bought a foreclosed home for 100k less than it is appraised for because these people bought more than they could afford. We could not afford this home if it wasn't foreclosed on. It worked out great for us but I feel bad for the family that lost such a great home, even if it was there own mistakes that caused it. They did not have a bad loan. They had multiple loans to afford the place and just couldn't keep up. Good luck!

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Hi, my broker told me to get pre-approved before i continue looking for properties. well, i'm more than happy to, however, my wife's credit score is 700 and mine is 750. will the 50 point difference between our two scores make a difference with the interest rate and amount we can borrow? her income adds about $35,000 to our total income earned (mine is around $140k) and she also has around $15,000 in federal student loan debt at a very low apr (around 3%). should i just put my name down for pre-approval, or both of our names? any advice much appreciated. thanks! located in nyc.

if she's already your wife you might as well, unless you have a good prenup and don't intend on keeping her forever

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Hi, my wife's credit score is a little bit lower than my own. i'm at 750 and she is 720. we live in nyc and want to get pre-approved for a mortgage. my understanding is they use the lower credit score to determine the rates, amount etc. if so, should we just apply with my name on the application? i know that i wouldn't get to include her income with my own though. my income is $140,000 and hers is $35,000. any help much appreciated. she will be added to the deed afterwards anyway, so this is only about trying to get the best rates! thanks.

We pull all 3 credit bureaus & use the middle score for each- then the lower of the 2. 720 is fine- you will qualify for more house if you use her income. You can use just yours if you want though- she will still be on the deed since you are married.

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A friend of mine advised me to leave the amount i was pre-approved for blank on the certificate. he said it acts as a bargaining tool when it comes time to making an offer and that i can always get another certificate from the bank with just my offer amount printed on it. he said this way, no one else has to know what i was actually approved for, thus they cannot reject my offer if i low-ball the bid. on one hand, it sounds like a good idea, but convoluted on the other.

No, that doesn't make any sense. When we bought our house the agent had to see that we were pre-approved for enough to cover the loan we would need. He wasn't going to waste his time submitting a bid for a house we couldn't afford. The seller never saw the pre-approval, they just knew that we were pre-approved for enough to cover our offer, so it is not a bargaining chip at all.

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Will i have to pay a fee for this pre-approval if i don't want it? i want to apply for a 30 year fixed loan at another bank, due to a lower interest rate? am i tied to this pre-approval in any way, they recently sent me a "loan commitment form" following my pre-approval, but i didn't sign it.

All banks are different - we got a preapproval from a local bank and decided not to go through that bank, and didn't have to pay anything. You should call the bank to ask. Fixed rate is the way to go...good choice!

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Due to my low credit score we had to use alternitive credit to show the lenders. my mortgage broker says it has to go through a underwriting prosses. its been 3 weeks and the sellers are being pushy because we cant sign a purchace agreement untill i have an approval letter but they have been nice and trying to give me time. the lenders said they need confirmation that a judgment has been satistfide then they can make a dissision.i wont be able to get that doccument for 7 to 10 days! does this sound like a deciding factor in geting the loan? why cant i get a pre approval? i thought it was just a " if everything clears im approved for such and such amount" kind of thing. please help!

Everything has not cleared, they want the documented proof.

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Basically, we want to move to another house. a great deal is left on our mortgage, and we aren't sure if we will be able to sell it for enough to cover that. but i could take out a loan if need be, to pay it back (the mortgage is in my mom's name and i have excellent credit and very high credit limits that other companies have trusted me with). her job has a website where you go to it and get pre-approved for wells fargo and one or two other companies that their credit union uses. i'm not sure if her income will be enough to get another mortgage before we even try to sell our current house. we have a dog and that's rough to figure out where to put her. half of the houses we've looked at don't have a fence. we'd also need a place to live, and if we sold our current house...that'd be interesting. we'd be working a good bit and wouldn't have time to put up a fence, etc. so it would be good if she could qualify for another mortgage while still keeping the current mortgage until we can sell the house. i'm concerned about her lower income, and wondering if they'd approve it. there's no possibility for me to cosign with her, because i don't want my name on it until it's paid off...i'll want to get my own house someday. she's had a mortgage in her name for a very long time. her myfico was 719 when we checked it. low income in the 20'sk/year...i'm thinking that won't work. but what are the chances of her pre-approval for another mortgage of about 60k-75k through her job's credit union? i help her pay a lot of stuff...but of course they won't know that and can't count my income. does it hurt her credit a lot if we try to do pre-approvals?

Every time you apply for a mortgage/loan/credit card, Your credit report gets a hit. I suggest going to only one reputable company & sticking with them. Most all lenders follow the same guidelines, and based on income, credit history & obligations, you will get similar answers, but they will offer you different programs, e.g. conventional or fha. Do work on selling your home first before you do anything else, or maybe work with your current mortgage on a loan modification. I understand dogs, children, (been there myself many of times, & also w/clients). Work with a good real estate agent and work out the kinks.