If you've made the decision to start shopping for a home in Orange County, California, a mortgage pre-approval can help you make it a less stressful process. This is even more the case if you're buying a home for the first-time as you can become inundated with requests. It is a very smart choice to get a mortgage pre-approval first, unless you are an all-cash buyer.

You're getting a loan to buy your homeUnless you have a large sum of cash for your home, you must apply for a home loan to buy your home in Orange County, California. If you are working with a good real estate agent, they'll likely have professional mortgage brokers to refer you to so you can start the loan pre-approval process.

The maximum you can affordMany first-time home buyers are not sure about their maximum purchase price on a home in Orange County, California. To get a better idea, they could get pre-qualified for how much the bank will lend them based on what they tell the bank. A more accurate about your maximum purchase price and loan is done through a mortgage pre-approval. Once completed, you will know exactly how much you can afford.

The reason you need to get pre-approved is so a real estate agent can show you homes listed on the MLS or maybe you found one on your own. Even a FSBO's (for sale by owner) home sale not listed with an agent, will want to see that you are pre-approved.

If you expect to go looking at homes without a mortgage pre-approval, you'll discover it really tough to get an agent to show you homes listed for sale. If you plan to pay all-cash and have proof of funds that's another story.

Similar to anyone else who works on commission, time is valuable and real estate agents can't afford to waste time, showing homes to buyer who are not qualified to purchase the home.

You want your offer to solidWhen a person pre-qualifies for a mortgage it's quite different from being pre-approved. For example, your credit or may not meet the requirements of the lender's guidelines. You may have been late on your rent in the past 12 months. There are small deal breakers you need to be sure you pass.

Once you've found the perfect home, you'll want to make an offer immediately. If the home you want is in high demand neighborhood you need your offer to stand above the rest. A mortgage pre-approval letters shows the seller you are a serious buyer.

For anyone about one to 3 months away from home shopping in Orange County's many beautiful cities, do yourself a big favor and speak with a loan officer about getting pre-approved for a mortgage. By taking this smart step every person involved in the transaction will be pleased with your efficiency.