Couple Quick Questions About Loan Qualifications

[Matthew Hanrahan]

Hi everyone, Real quick question about financing with a traditional mortgage. If I go to a bank, and tell a loan officer that my general plan is to buy a buy and hold investment property and I want to know approx how much I can get approved for, am I going to get laughed out of the building (so to speak). If not, would anyone have a recommendation on how I would approach that subject at a bank/other traditional lender? If so what am I missing here? I understand that with rental properties I need to focus on cash flow, but I want to ensure that I can actually secure a loan for $x and that I'm not wasting my time or an agent's time. Also, would any pre-approval process require a hard pull on my credit (with negative aspects towards my score)? If after I see loan options I decide to not proceed further would that look like a rejection of some kind on my report? Thank you for the help!!

[Mindy Jensen]

@Jeremy T., your advice to shop around is good advice, but if you shop around and have all your credit inquiries within 14 days, they all count as one inquiry, and only ding your credit as one. It's considered shopping around for a loan, and doesn't look bad.