SInce an approval letter expires, should I apply for a loan after I find a house I like?

As long as you don't make any drastic changes to income or credit, the letter would still be valid. It is best ro get pre-approved as early as process and get a letter specific to the property you are looking to finance. Shoot me an email. Scarroll@bondstreetloans.com

In most markets today, if you wait until you find a home to apply, it is likely the home will be under contract with someone else by the time you get your approval letter. My advice is to get yourself approved and go shopping with letter in hand. Although they all have an 'expiration date' the truth is that once approved, updating or refreshing the expiration dates is really easy and pretty common. Just stay in contact with your Mortgage Broker and when your approval letter has about a week to go, ask that it be updated. Some states have a specific form that can be used toward the purchase of any property, but many states just use a letter. I do not recommend you get a letter approving you for a specific property. Instead, ask your Mortgage Broker to reference the approval "... is approved for a loan to purchase a home of not more than $XX.XX located in or around [City or county and state] This way if you are not successful in getting your offer accepted, the letter is valid for other properties without having to go back to your Broker.~ Bert Carpenter, The LoansA2z Team of NEXA Mortgage ~ NMLS 40586 ~ Licensed in Arizona, California, Georgia, Oregon, and Washington. Need help in other states? We got you covered. NEXA Mortgage is licensed in 46 states ~ www.ApplyYes.com 480-889-9000