HomeBase
Loading your page
Getting the information you requested ready to view.
You can still use the navigation above.
HomeBase
Getting the information you requested ready to view.
You can still use the navigation above.
Getting ready
Prequalification is a rough guess from what you tell a lender. Preapproval means they actually checked — and sellers only take the second one seriously.
Prequalification is an estimate based on numbers you describe to a lender — nothing verified, nothing promised. It's useful for a first sense of budget and nothing more.
Preapproval means the lender pulled your credit and reviewed real documents (pay stubs, W-2s, bank statements) and issued a conditional statement of what they expect to lend you. It is not a guarantee — the final loan still depends on the property and full underwriting — but it is evidence, and in a competitive offer it is often required.
Practical order: get your documents together first (our pre-approval guide lists them), then ask two or three lenders for preapproval in the same short window — credit scoring treats clustered mortgage inquiries as one shopping event.
Source: CFPB — Buying a House (official guide)
Who confirms it for you: Any lender — preapproval itself is the verification step.
Educational, not advice — and never an eligibility determination. Program rules and loan requirements change; the cited source and the named confirmer are the authorities for your case.