What is a pre-approval?

A pre-approval will take in to consideration your credit, your income, your down payment and your expenses. Someone offering an accurate pre-approval should be verifying everything up front and collecting paperwork to reduce the chance of any surprises when  you put an offer in on a property. A pre-approval is never a guarantee…it’s simply doing as much as you can ahead of time to be as prepared as possible.

Do I have to have a down payment?

Yes, you will need a down payment. If you are buying a house that you will be living in, then the minimum down payment you need is 5% of the purchase price. If you do not have a down payment, there are different ways to go about getting one.