Getting Pre-Qualified for a Mortgage

[Cedric Skeen]

Can me getting pre-qualified hurt my credit score..and up to how many lenders are allowed to run my credit in this period?

All feedback is appreciated!

Thanks

[Brenden Mitchum]

Hey @Cedric Skeen!

Having recently gone through the pre-approval process, I believe I can answer your question. However, you should definitely speak with the lenders to verify.

First, let's clarify something - pre-qualification and pre-approval are often used interchangeably. However, they are two separate things. Pre-qualification is the first, most basic step. This simply gives you a ballpark idea of what you may be able to afford. You should be able to do this quickly over the phone with the lender and will not require any credit checks. Pre-approval is essentially the process that the lender goes through to confirm the information you have given them and also involves a hard credit check. 

This means that the answer to your question is no, getting pre-qualified will not hurt your credit and you can get it done by as many lenders as you'd like. However, if you are referring to pre-approval then yes there is a hard check involved so this will hurt your credit. Number of recent hard checks is part of what determines your credit score. That being said, you have a 30-day period from the time of the first hard check to do as many as you'd like. As long as they are all within the 30 days from the first hard check, you will only be dinged for one on your credit.

Again, this is what I was told while being pre-approved so you will want to double check this information. Please feel free to message me anytime if you have questions or just want to chat!