With our $5,000 Pre-Approved Homebuyer Guarantee, you can rest assured your pre-approval letter is more than just ink on paper. We stand behind our pre-approval!
Mortgage Approval Program
Many buyers think they need to find a house to buy before getting the mortgage paperwork done. However, 95% of what we do has nothing to do with the house in the mortgage world. All we need to do is get an appraisal and the title work, and as long as your home appraises and the title is clean, you will be able to get a loan.
- Does your lender stand behind their pre-approval?
- We put our money where our mouth is.
- Certified Home Buyer – Don’t accept anything less.
The Better Rate Mortgage Team
We won’t only take the time to match you with the best mortgage loan product available that you can qualify for before you even have a house in mind; we go further. Our mortgage underwriters will examine your credit history, employment history, debt ratios, down payment amount, reserves, and other necessary documentation to get you approved for financing while your house is still “To Be Determined.”
What the guarantee actually covers
Most preapproval letters are a credit pull and an estimate. Ours is issued only after a human underwriter has reviewed the file. Before the letter goes out, three things are already done:
- Credit verified. A full credit report, reviewed and approved.
- Income verified. Sufficient income to qualify, documented.
- Assets verified. All funds needed for closing, confirmed.
That’s what makes the letter worth something to a seller: the parts of the loan that depend on you are finished before you write an offer. What remains depends on the house.
What stays your responsibility
The guarantee holds as long as the file still looks the way it did when we approved it:
- No change in your credit, employment, or financial situation
- A suitable property, with an appraisal that supports the sales price
- A satisfactory title commitment, and homeowners insurance (plus flood insurance where required)
- Earnest money or gift funds documented
- Income and asset documents dated within 60 days of the note date, and a credit report within 120 days
A preapproval is good for 120 days, the life of the hard credit pull behind it. Rates aren’t locked by the letter. You lock once a property is under contract.
In the eight years I have run this program, we have done thousands of preapprovals this way and never once had to pay it out. That’s the point. The guarantee isn’t really a promise to write a check. It’s evidence that when we say a buyer is approved, the loan closes.
Who gets paid, and when
If we issue a Certified Homebuyer preapproval, every condition above is met, and we fail to close the loan, Better Rate Mortgage pays the seller $5,000. It’s written to protect the seller who accepted your offer, which is exactly why it makes your offer worth accepting.
It doesn’t apply if the buyer or seller decides not to close, or if a delay is caused by something outside our control.
*This offer is subject to all conditions stated on the Certified Home Buyer Certificate. This guarantee isn’t valid if Buyer and/or Sellers choose not to close on the loan or a delay is caused by reasons beyond the control of Better Rate Mortgage. Not a commitment to lend. Additional terms and conditions apply. This advertisement doesn’t constitute a loan approval or a loan commitment. Loan approval and/or loan commitment are subject to final underwriting review and approval.
