How to Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage

How to get pre-approved for a mortgage comes down to four things: a conversation about what you are trying to buy, your income and asset documents, a credit report pulled with your permission, and a lender’s underwriting system saying yes to a specific loan at a specific price. Do it before you tour seriously. In a competitive Connecticut market, a pre-approval is what lets your agent write an offer the same day you find the house, and it surfaces credit or income questions while there is still time to fix them.

How to get pre-approved for a mortgage, step by step

01
Talk first
Fifteen minutes on the phone: what you want to buy, where, roughly what you earn and owe, and how much cash you have. That tells me which loan types to run and which documents to ask for.
02
Send the documents
Through a secure link, never by plain email. The checklist is below; I tell you exactly which items your file needs.
03
Credit, with your permission
I pull a credit report only once you say go. It shows your scores from the three bureaus and every account a lender will count.
04
Underwriting and pricing
I run the file through the automated underwriting systems for the loan types that fit, check the result against each lender’s own rules, and price it with several of them.
05
The letter
You get a letter that names the loan type, the price and the down payment, and you get my cell number on it so the listing agent can call me.

The documents checklist

What a lender asks for depends on how you earn and what you are buying. For most buyers it is this:

A photo ID for every borrower.
Recent pay stubs covering about a month, and W-2s for the last two years.
Federal tax returns for the last two years if you are self-employed, earn commission, own rental property or have income that changes; business returns too if you own a company.
The last two months of statements for every bank, brokerage and retirement account you will use for the down payment or reserves, every page.
A gift letter if family is helping, and the donor’s statement showing the money leaving their account.
Divorce decree or child support order, bankruptcy discharge, or a VA certificate of eligibility, where they apply.
A short letter explaining any large deposit that is not a paycheck.

Prequalification vs pre-approval

Lenders use the two words differently, and neither letter is a guaranteed loan offer (CFPB). Here is how I use them. A prequalification is a number based on what you tell me, with no documents and often no credit report. It is useful for deciding whether to start looking. A pre-approval is a number based on documents I have read, a credit report I have pulled and an automated underwriting approval for a specific loan type. That is the one to write an offer with, and the only kind I put my name on for a listing agent.

The credit pull and your score

A pre-approval needs a full credit report, which is a hard inquiry. The good news for shopping: within a 45-day window, multiple credit checks from mortgage lenders are recorded on your credit report as a single inquiry (CFPB), so comparing lenders inside that window costs you no more than applying once. As a broker I can usually price several lenders off one report anyway.

Between pre-approval and closing, keep your credit still. Do not open a card, finance furniture, co-sign a loan or let a bill go late, and tell me before you change jobs. The lender checks again before closing, and a new debt can change the answer.

How long a pre-approval letter lasts

A letter is only as fresh as the documents behind it. Fannie Mae, for example, requires credit documents, which include the credit report, pay stubs and bank statements, to be no more than four months old on the day the loan closes (Fannie Mae Selling Guide, B1-1-03). So a pre-approval does not expire on a set date so much as go stale: when your newest pay stub or statement is getting old, or your price range or the loan you want has changed, I update the documents and reissue the letter. If you have been looking for a few months, ask me for a refresh before you write an offer.

What listing agents look for in a pre-approval

The listing agent’s job is to tell the seller which offer will close. When they read your letter they are checking:

That a real person issued it and answers the phone. Most good listing agents call the loan officer before they recommend an offer; I take those calls myself.
That income, assets and credit were verified, not just stated.
That the loan type and down payment match the offer, and the amount covers the offer price. I issue a letter for each offer at that offer’s price, so you never show your ceiling.
That the mortgage contingency date in the contract is realistic for that loan type and lender.
Anything that could slow the closing, such as a condo that needs approval or a multi-family that needs rental income counted. Better that I raise it first.

Agents I work with get a call from me when they send me a buyer, and a short note when a buyer is ready to write. More on that on the for agents page.

How I shop lenders for your pre-approval

A bank pre-approves you for its own loans. I pre-approve you with the lender that fits. Through my sponsoring broker, Barrett Financial Group, I work with multiple wholesale lenders, and they differ more than people expect: one will go lower on credit score for FHA, another treats self-employed income more generously, another clears conditions in a day instead of a week. I run your file against the ones that fit, compare the rate, the fees and the lender’s own rules, and tell you which one I would use and why.

Rates change daily, so I do not print them here. Within three business days of an application you get a Loan Estimate (CFPB) with every cost listed, and I date every quote I send so you can compare like with like. If you are a first-time buyer, start with the first-time home buyer programs and the CHFA vs FHA comparison; if you want to see what you might pay at closing, read CT closing costs.

Questions people ask

01How long does it take to get pre-approved for a mortgage?

The conversation takes about fifteen minutes. Once I have your documents and your go-ahead to pull credit, most pre-approvals are done the same business day, and a self-employed or multi-family file can take a little longer. The slow part is usually gathering statements, so start with the checklist above.

02Does getting pre-approved hurt your credit?

A pre-approval uses a hard credit inquiry, which can lower a score slightly for a while. Mortgage shopping is treated kindly: credit checks from mortgage lenders within a 45-day window are recorded as a single inquiry, according to the CFPB. What does real damage is new debt or a late payment between pre-approval and closing.

03What is the difference between prequalified and pre-approved?

Lenders use the terms differently. In my practice, a prequalification is an estimate based on what you tell me, with no documents checked. A pre-approval is based on your documents, a credit report and an automated underwriting approval for a specific loan type and price, which is what a listing agent wants to see with an offer.

04How long is a mortgage pre-approval good for?

As long as the documents behind it are current. Lenders follow agency rules on document age; Fannie Mae, for example, requires credit documents such as the credit report, pay stubs and bank statements to be no more than four months old on the closing date. In practice I refresh pay stubs and statements as they age and reissue the letter, especially before an offer.

05What documents do I need to get pre-approved?

Usually a photo ID, about a month of pay stubs, two years of W-2s, two months of statements for every account you will use, and two years of tax returns if you are self-employed or have variable income. Add a gift letter if family is helping. I send a checklist for your exact situation after our first call.

06Can I get pre-approved with more than one lender?

Yes, and inside a 45-day window the extra mortgage credit checks count as one inquiry. Working with a broker gets you the same comparison with one application: I take your file to several wholesale lenders and show you the options side by side.

Rates change daily

Ready when you are.

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Sources

CFPB, What exactly happens when a mortgage lender checks my credit?. Last reviewed August 28, 2026.
CFPB, What’s the difference between a prequalification letter and a preapproval letter?. Last reviewed December 5, 2023.
CFPB, What is a Loan Estimate?. Last reviewed August 9, 2024.
Fannie Mae Selling Guide, B1-1-03, Allowable Age of Credit Documents. Section dated April 2, 2025.