"How long is a preapproval good for?"
The short answer: As long as the information stays the same, it's technically good indefinitely.
? Now, a credit report will expire after 120 days. Whether you are preapproved, under contract, in process, etc. that credit report will expire after 120 days.
That is why it's important to continue to pay your bills, make payments on time, not open new lines of credit, all that jazz, while you're under contract in the event we have to pull a new credit report.
? As far as income documents and bank statements, those are really only good for the next 30 days at any given stage. Mortgage underwriting requires us to always have the most up-to-date income documents from clients.
⭐ Again this is for a preapproval, not a prequalification. Prequalifications aren't worth the paper they are written on. You really want to make sure you're fully preapproved when searching for homes so you know your exact bottom line in terms of what you can afford.
? As we are heading into the spring market, it is starting to get tight. Buyers are coming out rapidly. Our applications in January were triple the amount they were in December of 2022.