Should I get Financing Arranged First?

[Account Closed]

Hello BP,

I am looking to make my first investment as soon as I find the right deal. I want to build a portfolio of rental property so I wanted to know if I should get financing (pre-approved) in place BEFORE I find a piece of property or should I wait until I find the property I want to purchase? 

[Will Koederitz]

@Account Closed

I would get financing ready once you know that you're going to buy a property in about a 30 days or so. If the deals are on the MLS, I think you generally need pre-approval but you don't want to just get it now without being ready. The pre-approval is usually good for about 30-45 days. You want to be ready to prevent getting pre-approved multiple times which lowers your credit score. Also, if you have all of your documentation ready, it shouldn't take too long to get pre-approved. You can also ask your lender/loan officer to estimate what you might be allowed to borrow so you can get a head start looking before actually being pre-approved.