Austin Klar says get mortgage pre-approval before touring houses. Without it, you won't know what you can afford or lock in loan terms when you find something you want. Pre-approval is quick, non-binding, and keeps you from falling in love with a house you can't actually buy.
Would you show up to a blackjack table in Vegas without any money? Of course not. So if you need a loan to buy a home, why are you going and touring homes without preapproval in hand? If you're trying to just learn the market, that's fine. Go to as many open houses as possible. But if you're serious about buying and haven't even spoken to a lender yet, how do you even know what terms you're gonna get or what you can afford? The last thing you want is when the home of your dreams comes to the market, you're stuck waiting for a bank to get you the approval that you need. Have it in hand, control the variables that you can so that you're ready to go if the time comes. And if you don't happen to find something while you have that preapproval, no harm done. There's nothing requiring you to actually purchase the home once you get that preapproval. It's just something that you need to put you in the best position possible.
