Pre-approval timing for FHA on owner occupied MF

[Jeff Davis]

Hey everyone!

Hoping to get some feedback on the timing of when we should apply for pre-approval. We are looking to purchase a MF property later this year or early 2023. We plan to live in the property and rent out the other unit(s). We had a conversation with a broker in our area and was pre-qualified for what we are looking for (2-3 unit MF, $500K - $600K range w/ FHA @ 3.5% downpayment) based on our current financials.

Question: Being that new FHA loan limits will be released in late November and are expected to increase, does it make sense for us to wait for pre-approval so we have more accurate numbers to shop with? Although technically we have a sizable downpayment now, we are not in a rush to purchase and it seems to me that waiting would give us a better/more accurate preapproval to shop with.

Any thoughts/suggestions on the way we are thinking from the community would be great. Thanks!

[David Kelly]

You can get pre-approved based on your current income and what you expect the terms to be.  This would also give you time to fix anything that needs to be fixed as far as credit or liabilities to qualify.  The approval that we run wont exactly come back with the loan being approved based on loan limits currently but as long as the lender you are working with knows the guidelines you should be able to know ahead of time.  You may need to run your credit later on again since that expires, but at least you would be less likely to run into a problem when you are ready to buy.