Desiree asked:
My fiance and I were recently pre-approved for a mortgage loan, yet we have somewhat limited credit history. A co-worker told me that every time you apply for a pre-approval, it brings down your credit score … she also said that we only have 90 days to take out a loan before the pre-approval expires. Is this true? If so, I’m worried we won’t find a home within the 90 days and we won’t get a second pre-approval.
Jamie
My fiance and I were recently pre-approved for a mortgage loan, yet we have somewhat limited credit history. A co-worker told me that every time you apply for a pre-approval, it brings down your credit score … she also said that we only have 90 days to take out a loan before the pre-approval expires. Is this true? If so, I’m worried we won’t find a home within the 90 days and we won’t get a second pre-approval.
Jamie
Tags: Co Worker, Credit History, Pre Approved
Yes. The mortgage companies will pull your reports and every time your report is pulled you can lose anywhere from 0-10 points.
In the UK a mortgage offer in principle, which it sounds like you have, is normally valid for 90 days. Check with the lender, but you’ll find this is the norm due to fluctuating interest rates.
In terms of your credit file, every time you apply for any credit, loans, store cards, overdraft, mortgage etc etc, you leave whats called a footprint on you credit file. 1 or 2 footprints isn’t really a problem, but if a lender sees that you’ve applied for loads of credit in a short space of time, they are less likely to offer you credit.
So technically your colleague is right, but for the purposes of the mortgage, if the lender says yes today, they’re unlikely to turn you down in 4 months on the back of their own credit search.
Hope this helps.
Since you were pre-approved, you have already gotten the loan. You don’t get pre-approved unless the mortgage company thinks that you are credit worthy. You can get extensions on the loan approval.
Don’t listen to the water cooler authorities, as they don’t know Jack about anything. She is just pulling your chain.
Contact the mortgage company broker who handled your pre-approval. She will hold your hand through the whole process, as she only gets her commission after you have closed your contract (escrow) on the property.
I have gone throughout house buying several times.
Don’t worry. Just make sure that you have a loan that won’t jump in the future.
No, it doesn’t. Review the facts at You can have yoru credit pulled during your “shopping window” and your credit score is not affected. Please call me, I would be more than happy to help you find your second mortgage. I am with Countrywide Home Loans and I have been in the business for several years. You want to find a lender who knows what they are talking about.
It does show that your credit report was accessed, but this does not really bring down the score. If a lender sees a lot of hits on your credit report they may think it is suspicious, but still does not bring down your score.
You can have one lender or 400 lenders pull your credit score. As long as all credit pulls are by mortgage lenders and all occur within a 45 day period, they count collectively as only one inquiry. This inquiry could potentially pull your score only by 1-5 points on average.
It is in your best interest to shop around for the best rate.