Mortgage Preapproval in St. Louis

What do you need to get preapproved?

Five things, and most people can gather them in an afternoon.

• Proof of income — recent pay stubs, two years of W-2s and tax returns. Self-employed: two years of returns plus a year-to-date profit and loss statement.
• Proof of assets — bank and investment statements covering your down payment and closing costs. Lenders look at where the money came from, not just that it is there.
• Credit — your report and score. Different loan programs have different minimums, and your score affects both approval and what you pay.
• Verification of employment — usually direct with your employer, and re-checked before closing.
• Identification and documentation — government ID, Social Security number, plus anything specific to your situation: a divorce decree, child support order, or gift letter if family is helping.

How long does it take — and how long does it last?

With documents in hand, a thorough preapproval takes days rather than weeks. Most of the wait is paperwork, not underwriting.

Preapprovals expire — commonly somewhere between 30 and 90 days depending on the lender and loan program — because credit reports and pay stubs go stale.

Your letter carries its own expiry date, so check it. Refreshing is usually straightforward, but it is not automatic. More on expiry and renewal

Why are some preapproval letters stronger than others?

Two documents with the same name can mean completely different things.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau puts it plainly: some lenders base preapproval letters solely on the information you provide, while others dig into the details up front to prevent delays and surprises later.

Listing agents in St. Louis know the difference and advise sellers accordingly — so a weak letter can make a strong buyer look weaker than they are. It is also the real difference between preapproval and prequalification.

Three questions worth asking any lender:

• Has an underwriter reviewed this, or only a loan officer?
• Have you verified my income and assets, or taken my word for it?
• Will you call the listing agent if they ask?

What is a TBD Mortgage Approval?

It is the version we recommend to most buyers, and it is where the phrase “underwritten preapproval” actually means something. TBD stands for To Be Determined — as in, the house is still to be determined.

Through our TBD Mortgage Approval Program, our underwriters review your credit history, employment history, debt ratios, down payment, reserves and supporting documentation before you have a property in mind. You fill out the application, provide the disclosures, and the file goes to underwriting rather than sitting on a loan officer’s desk.

Once it is underwritten, you have about four months to get a home under contract — that window is set by how long your credit report and income documents stay current. Need longer? Extending it is a simple re-verification, not starting over.

After that, what is left is the property itself — the appraisal and the title work. It is a longer, sturdier runway than a standard preapproval letter, which commonly expires in 30 to 90 days, and it is why a TBD approval reads differently to a listing agent: the financing questions have already been answered.

How does the $5,000 Seller Guarantee work?

For qualified buyers preapproved through our program, we back your offer to the seller: if your financing falls through, we pay the seller $5,000.

It answers the seller’s real question — not whether you seem like a nice buyer, but whether the deal survives to closing. How the guarantee works

What you qualify for is not what you should spend

The CFPB again, and it is worth hearing from the regulator rather than the lender: lenders preapprove you by looking at income, assets, debts and credit — but your financial life is more complicated than that, and only you can decide how much to spend.

A preapproval gives you a ceiling. It knows nothing about childcare, retirement, travel, or how you want to live, and plenty of buyers are approved for considerably more than they should spend.

Start from the payment you actually want instead: work backwards with the payment-to-price calculator, see what that buys across the region on the St. Louis Affordability Map, or check what different down payments cost you with the down payment calculator.

What if you are declined?

It is usually a timing problem, not a permanent one.

• Ask why — credit, debt-to-income, or missing documentation.
• Ask for the score they used. If credit drove the decision, the lender must send you a notice with that score and how to get a free report.
• Check for errors. Credit report mistakes are common and fixable.
• Get free help. HUD-approved housing counselors cost nothing.

Most of what causes a decline is fixable in months rather than years, which is worth finding out early rather than under contract.