Oh yeah, here’s one of the more important mortgage questions out there. Are you actually eligible for a mortgage or are you simply wasting your time and the lender’s?
While requirements do vary, most lenders require two years of credit history, clean rental history, and steady employment, along with some assets in the bank.
As mentioned, getting that pre-qual, or better yet, pre-approval, is a good way to find out if the real thing (a loan application) is worth your while.
However, even if you are pre-approved, things can and do come up that turn a conditional approval into a denial letter.
For example, an undisclosed credit card, personal loan, auto loan, or pesky student loans. Or other discrepancies.
It’s not 100% until it funds.