How Long Does A Mortgage Preapproval Last?

As part of the home buying process, you’ll almost always have to get preapproved for a mortgage. Once you find a lender you trust and receive a preapproval letter, you’ll be able to make an offer on a home. But how long is a mortgage preapproval good for?

Depending on the lender, your credit and other factors, your mortgage preapproval will likely be good for about 2 – 3 months. Let’s take a look at what a mortgage preapproval is, how long the process takes and how long your mortgage preapproval will typically last.

A mortgage preapproval is a process of determining how much a person can borrow to buy a home. Lenders look at your income, assets, liabilities and credit score to determine the loan amount and mortgage rate you’ll receive.

Getting preapproved for a home loan is beneficial as it helps you understand how much money you can spend on your new house. Preapprovals also make it easier to shop for a home and can strengthen your bid when you put in an offer.

You can always look at a house without preapproval. However, if you’re house shopping in a competitive market, and two people submit an offer on a home but only one has preapproval, the preapproved offer will likely be accepted because the sellers will know that the buyer has the means to purchase their house.

Preapproval also gives you time to sort out your financial documents beforehand. That means you’ve done the bulk of the mortgage process upfront, so you’ll only have to focus on closing once you put in an offer.

The Difference Between Preapproval And Prequalification

It’s important to understand the difference between a mortgage preapproval and a prequalification. A prequalification essentially states that you’ll qualify for a mortgage, but it might not give an accurate representation of how much you’ll eventually be approved for or what your interest rate will be. That’s because a mortgage prequalification doesn’t use your credit report – it uses your reported available down payment, income and other factors. Without your credit report, a lender can only estimate what you’ll be approved for.

As we mentioned above, when lenders start working on your mortgage preapproval, they’ll look at your income, assets, liabilities and credit score to calculate an actual loan amount that you would be approved for. They will properly vet your information to make sure your financial state is where it needs to be in order to buy a home.

Once approved, your lender will give you a preapproval letter, which lists your mortgage amount, interest rate and any additional details about the loan. The letter is vital for a few reasons. First, real estate agents usually ask to see your preapproval letter before they show you houses. Knowing that you’re preapproved will help your agent understand your budget and assure them that you’re serious about buying a house.

Second, a preapproval letter is something you can share with the seller to prove that your offer is legitimate. It’ll show that you probably won’t have any problems getting a mortgage if your bid is accepted.

How long a mortgage preapproval is good for can vary depending on your lender. In most cases, it’s valid for around 60 – 90 days. Your financial situation can change substantially within a few months, and many lenders require you to get preapproved again if you’ve gone beyond the 90-day mark.

It can, however, be a good thing for a borrower’s financial situation to change. For example, upon your first preapproval, you may learn that you have a low credit score. If you lower your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio and take other steps toward repairing your credit score, you could receive a lower rate on your next mortgage preapproval.

Some borrowers’ financial situations don’t change, but they haven’t purchased a house, so their mortgage preapproval expires. They’ll still need to get a new preapproval letter. If your letter has expired, you’ll have to find a new lender or reapply to the same one.

While you can get multiple preapproval letters, it can hurt your credit if you don’t have your credit pulls done during a 2-week period. Since lenders run a credit check to make a letter, it creates a hard inquiry on your credit report. A hard inquiry can decrease your credit score by several points, and too many inquiries can be a red flag to future lenders.

There is a grace period, however. If you apply for preapproval with multiple mortgage lenders within a 14-day period, it will show up only as one hard credit pull on your credit report. So, when you’re shopping around, don’t wait several weeks between applications. Do them all at once to lessen the impact on your credit score.

A mortgage preapproval is one of the first and most essential steps toward buying a home. It’s wise to understand how much house you can afford before you start shopping. You’ll want to get preapproved for a mortgage as you start seriously looking at homes.

A borrower should apply for a mortgage preapproval when they’re actively in the home buying process, but not so far in advance that they risk their preapproval expiring. If you’re unsure if you should get a mortgage preapproval letter, you may want to have a conversation with your real estate agent.

Once you choose a mortgage lender to work with, the preapproval process can take as little as a day to several days.

With Rocket Mortgage^®, the steps to getting preapproved are simple. First, you’ll need to submit a mortgage application. Typically, we will then run a check on your credit history and ask you a series of questions about your financial standing and the home you want to buy.

We’ll check your income and assets and analyze your most recent bank statements. Lenders like us want to ensure that you can comfortably afford your monthly mortgage payment, so we’ll look for any financial red flags like outstanding credit card debt or unpaid medical bills.

After completing the approval process, you’ll receive a letter. If you applied with Rocket Mortgage, you’ll be in contact with a banker to get a Verified Approval Letter.¹ To be “verified,” you must submit additional documents like tax returns and pay stubs along with the application. Verified Approval can give you an edge over other buyers as it proves your financial ability to follow through with your offer.

Most mortgage preapproval letters last 60 – 90 days. Your mortgage preapproval will list how much you’re approved to borrow, your interest rate and other terms and conditions.

Typically, borrowers should wait until they’re ready to actively search for a home before they get preapproved. This will ensure that their preapproval letter does not expire and that they can confidently bid on their future home.

Purchasing a home is an exciting venture. Make sure you take all the necessary steps to start your home buying journey and get approved with Rocket Mortgage today.

¹Participation in the Verified Approval program is based on an underwriter’s comprehensive analysis of your credit, income, employment status, debt, property, insurance, appraisal and a satisfactory title report/search. If new information materially changes the underwriting decision resulting in a denial of your credit request, if the loan fails to close for a reason outside of Rocket Mortgage’ control, or if you no longer want to proceed with the loan, your participation in the program will be discontinued. If your eligibility in the program does not change and your mortgage loan does not close, you will receive $1,000. This offer does not apply to new purchase loans submitted to Rocket Mortgage through a mortgage broker. Additional conditions or exclusions may apply.