Pre-Approval
Definition of "Pre-Approval"
A lender commitment to make a mortgage loan to a specified borrower, prior to the identification of the property that will be mortgaged. On a pre-approval, unlike a pre-qualification, the lender verifies the financial information provided and checks the credit of the potential borrower. Prospective homebuyers seek pre-approvals because they believe it helps them in shopping for a house. Lenders offer pre-approvals in the hope that the homebuyers receiving them will come back to them for a loan after they contract to purchase. The lender's commitment under a pre-approval is usually expressed in terms of the monthly mortgage payment that the prospective buyer has the income to meet. Converting the mortgage payment into a loan amount requires an assumption regarding the interest rate, which is not known at the time of the pre-approval. Since the lender is not committed to an interest rate, an increase in rates could reduce the approved loan amount.
Popular Mortgage Terms
An interest rate index that is used on some ARMs. ...
The sum of all interest payments to date or over the life of the loan. This is not a good measure of the cost of credit to the borrower because it does not include upfront cash payments and ...
Limit on the size of payment change on an adjustable rate mortgage. ...
The number of months for which the initial interest rate holds on an ARM. ...
A mortgage on which the interest rate is adjustable based on an interest rate index, and the monthly payment adjusts based on a wage and salary index. Dual index mortgages are not written ...
Same as term housing expense. The sum of the monthly mortgage payment, hazard insurance, property taxes, and homeowner association fees. Housing expense is sometimes referred to as PITI, ...
A charge imposed by the lender if the borrower pays off the loan early. The charge is usually expressed as a percent of the loan balance at the time of prepayment or a specified number of ...
Every ARM is tied to an interest rate index. An index has three relevant features:availibility, level, volatility. All the common ARM indexes are readily available from a published source, ...
Authorization by the lender for the borrower to pay taxes and insurance directly. This is in contrast to the standard procedure, where the lender adds a charge to the monthly mortgage ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.