Pre-Approval, please

The pre-approval letter has always been an integral part of the presentation of an offer.  The pre-approval letter is, as its name suggests, a letter, usually addressed To Whom it May Concern, which states that the people hoping to buy a house have talked to a lender and the lender thinks, to the best of his or her knowledge, that these people will be able to purchase a home.  Phew.  Please do NOT report that run-on sentence to my 8th grade English teacher!

I am not a lender, so I love it when lenders say what I would say if I knew enough about lending to say it! Recently, Rhonda Porter penned a timely reminder about pre-approval letters over at Rain City Guide.  In a topsy-turvy market, we need the most info and the most RECENT info possible when offering on a house. That’s why you need to make sure your pre-approval letter is hot-off-the-press, as it were.