{"id":1130,"date":"2017-12-18T18:44:02","date_gmt":"2017-12-18T18:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.himorty.com\/?p=1130"},"modified":"2023-11-27T20:41:09","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T01:41:09","slug":"can-really-afford-pre-approval-letter-says-can-afford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.morty.com\/resources\/mortgage-101\/can-really-afford-pre-approval-letter-says-can-afford","title":{"rendered":"Can I Afford What My Pre-Approval Letter States?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>As a soon-to-be-homebuyer, you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.morty.com\/resources\/buying\/get-pre-approved-mortgage\/\">did the smart thing<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.morty.com\/resources\/buying\/mortgage-pre-approval\/\">got pre-approved for a mortgage<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that you\u2019ve gone through the pre-approval process, you know what your expected monthly mortgage payment amount and maximum home price are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some would-be homebuyers see the maximum loan amount and assume that being pre-approved for a mortgage of a certain size means they must be able to afford a home for exactly that much money. After all, why would a lender approve a homebuyer for a home they can\u2019t really afford?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But like so many things in life, one size does not necessarily fit all when it comes to homebuyers and their pre-approved mortgage amounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For many potential homebuyers, buying a home priced on the upper end of their mortgage pre-approval limit can stretch their budget uncomfortably thin. For others, a pre-approval letter might be a pretty conservative estimate of what the homebuyer can spend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While it\u2019s important to note that the final approval is going to be a robust version of the pre-approval, and any expected changes to the application prior to or near the closing date can and should be reviewed and pre-approved each time something adjusts, the good news is that if you\u2019re pre-approved for a mortgage, you have already demonstrated that you currently have enough income to potentially cover a mortgage for the maximum amount you\u2019ll be allowed to borrow (however, you\u2019ll want to consult with your mortgage advisor as soon as possible about the nuances of getting through closing in order to plan ahead while you\u2019re in this pre-approval stage).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re unsure about whether you can really afford as much home as your pre-approval letter says you can or if you\u2019d be better off buying a less expensive home, ask yourself these three questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-ht-block-toc  is-style-outline htoc htoc--position-wide toc-list-style-plain\" data-htoc-state=\"expanded\"><span class=\"htoc__title\"><span class=\"ht_toc_title\">In this article<\/span><span class=\"htoc__toggle\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\"><g fill=\"#444\"><path d=\"M15 7H1c-.6 0-1 .4-1 1s.4 1 1 1h14c.6 0 1-.4 1-1s-.4-1-1-1z\"><\/path><path d=\"M15 1H1c-.6 0-1 .4-1 1s.4 1 1 1h14c.6 0 1-.4 1-1s-.4-1-1-1zM15 13H1c-.6 0-1 .4-1 1s.4 1 1 1h14c.6 0 1-.4 1-1s-.4-1-1-1z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/span><div class=\"htoc__itemswrap\"><ul class=\"ht_toc_list\"><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#htoc-did-you-submit-actual-financial-documentation-to-your-lender-or-broker-for-this-pre-approval\">Submitting your financial docs<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#htoc-do-you-anticipate-any-significant-changes-to-your-financial-situation-in-the-near-future\">Your financial future<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#htoc-how-does-your-potential-future-mortgage-payment-compare-to-your-current-rent\">Future mortgage compares to current rent<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#htoc-still-not-sure-if-you-can-afford-the-amount-your-pre-approval-says-you-could-borrow-for-your-mortgage\">Still not sure?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"htoc-did-you-submit-actual-financial-documentation-to-your-lender-or-broker-for-this-pre-approval\">Did you submit *actual* financial documentation to your lender or broker for this pre-approval?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Generally, a mortgage pre-qualification is just a quick bit of number crunching. <em>Based on X income and Y credit score, you could potentially qualify for a mortgage as high as Z amount.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A mortgage pre-approval, on the other hand, usually follows an in-depth review of a potential homebuyer\u2019s income, assets, and credit-worthiness. A good pre-approval doesn\u2019t have to be painful. (Morty\u2019s pre-approval process takes about ten minutes.) But it is pretty thorough. Your credit is checked with all three credit reporting bureaus. You will have to submit supporting documentation like tax returns, W2 forms, and bank statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That said, \u2018mortgage pre-qualification\u2019 and \u2018mortgage pre-approval\u2019 aren\u2019t legally-binding terms. So occasionally, borrowers might run into lenders or mortgage brokers who offer no-credit-check, no documentation \u2018pre-approvals.\u2019 It\u2019s not illegal to do so. But that sort of so-called \u2018pre-approval\u2019 can be misleading. As a homebuyer, you don\u2019t want to base your home search on a pre-approval amount pulled out of a hat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bottom line: if for some reason you\u2019ve been given a \u2018mortgage pre-approval letter\u2019, but you haven\u2019t submitted your financial information (income, assets, credit\/liabilities) to a lender or mortgage broker, treat the number on that piece of paper with a healthy dose of skepticism. If you\u2019re serious about buying a home soon, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.morty.com\/get-started\/mortgage\">get a more in-depth pre-approval<\/a> first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"htoc-do-you-anticipate-any-significant-changes-to-your-financial-situation-in-the-near-future\">Do you anticipate any significant changes to your financial situation in the near future?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Your mortgage pre-approval factored in your current income, assets, debts, and expenses. But financial situations change, sometimes fairly quickly. This is especially a concern now with the unfortunate increase in unemployment and general uncertainty around the economy and the housing market. Your income or employment can change prior to or during closing, you just need to be sure that you outline all of the details and timelines upfront with your mortgage advisor as this will impact ability to close within a certain time frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You may want to consider purchasing a home well under the pre-approved amount if you anticipate an additional financial strain in the not-so-distant future or if you\u2019re not sure what the future holds. Unexpected expenses on top of an already-budget-straining mortgage can send your family finances into a sharp downward spin, and if your income is expected to go down in the near future, this will likely be exposed during Underwriting and will be used in the approval analysis. It\u2019s best to work with an expert to be prepared for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wherever you decide to buy in your pre-approved range, be sure that you talk it over with a licensed professional (whether that\u2019s one of our brokers or someone else) to be certain that you can still get a mortgage with your current employment\/income situation, FICO (those requirements are changing frequently among different lenders), et. al. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile has-white-color has-theme-palette-1-background-color has-text-color has-background\" style=\"grid-template-columns:25% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.morty.com\/mortgage-rates\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/www.morty.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/rates-1x1-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8885 size-full\"\/><\/a><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size\">Want to know what you can afford?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-1 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-75\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-theme-palette-3-color has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.morty.com\/mortgage-rates\" style=\"border-radius:100px\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">VIEW Mortgage RATES<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"htoc-how-does-your-potential-future-mortgage-payment-compare-to-your-current-rent\">How does your potential future mortgage payment compare to your current rent?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re pre-approved for a potential future mortgage payment that\u2019s significantly higher than your current rent, take a moment to ask yourself how paying more for housing will impact your overall budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Are you able to save money each month now? Can you afford to pay more for housing without significant changes in your overall lifestyle? Are there sacrifices you\u2019re willing to make to become a homeowner?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember, a higher mortgage payment won\u2019t be your only additional housing expense when you move from renting to owning. As a homeowner, you\u2019ll need to be ready to pay for repairs and maintenance. And don\u2019t forget taxes. And insurance. And potentially HOA fees. Are you moving into a larger space? Then water, gas, electricity, and heating costs may be significantly higher in your future home as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you aren\u2019t able to save money for a rainy day each month with your current rent, then buying a home at the upper end of your pre-approved range\u2014and the higher monthly mortgage payment that comes along with that\u2014may not be your best financial decision. Consider buying a lower-priced home with a lower monthly mortgage payment. Yes, even if you have a pre-approval for a larger amount. This can also be achieved by putting more down or getting a gift to reduce your debt burden.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With a mortgage pre-approval, lenders determine what they would be willing to loan you to buy a home. But what feels financially comfortable for one family may not be financially comfortable for another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"htoc-still-not-sure-if-you-can-afford-the-amount-your-pre-approval-says-you-could-borrow-for-your-mortgage\">Still not sure if you can afford the amount your pre-approval says you could borrow for your mortgage?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Getting a pre-approval for a mortgage is just the first step in the home buying process. It can help you get a handle on what you may be able to afford. Only you can decide what you\u2019re comfortable paying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For most homebuyers, it\u2019s better to buy less home than they can afford than risk bankruptcy and foreclosure by buying a home that\u2019s <em>just<\/em> over the upper limit of what they can comfortably afford to pay. Using equity that you build up over time by paying down your mortgage will also allow you to potentially use this to perform home improvements and upgrade this way, and it\u2019s more financially stable longer term. Ready to start your journey to homeownership? You can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.morty.com\/get-started\/mortgage\">get the ball rolling with your Morty pre-approval<\/a> here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a soon-to-be-homebuyer, you did the smart thing and got pre-approved for a mortgage. Now&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1132,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[57],"series":[72],"class_list":["post-1130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mortgage-101","tag-pre-approval","series-pre-approval"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.3.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can I Afford What My Pre-Approval Letter States? | Morty Resources<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Your pre-approval can show a potential mortgage payment that is higher than your current rent. 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