Do I need to get pre approved for a certain amount for the refinance portion from the bank BEFORE I even start looking and making offers?

My wife does not show homes she points them to the MLS feeds and on line and once they want to see a home she then goes into action.. in the meantime she gets them pre approved with a Lender ( that can actually close) many buyers will lose deals because they don't understand the difference between a great lender and one that talks a great game.. this is a huge service a great agent brings to the table.then you have the negotiation.. just put buyer and seller in the same room and half your deals will never happen.. to much emotion.Ok now your in contract.. 

I haven’t dug in to this yet or called other lenders, but I’m curious what other people’s income was when they were first approved for loans over $1M.

@Alejandro Hayden have you submitted your pre-approval?

I was recently approved for an FHA loan about a month ago right before all this craziness happened!

Should I be pre-approved before calling contractors, agents, or even analyzing anything? 

Usually something happens to the HVAC at the changing of the seasons, then you have to use one of the warranty company's approved vendors and wait for them to actually be able to schedule with your tenant, then they come out and diagnose and it's another two weeks before they come back to really fix it and they end up doing a bad patch job and have to come back out 2 months later, etc.Also keep in mind the limitations of a warranty.

First of all, the didn't ask me too many questions, they asked how much I need and where is the properties.Then the gave me a simple and not professional application via Word document and there as no section to put the ARV (As I am searching for a fix and flip).Gave me an approval letter without any mentioning the monthly payment, the interest that I'll pay...And finally wrote that I need to put 2% (2 points) BEFORE closing, the was the final red flag for me.Be aware of these scams

Review the R&Rs from your HOA ; I had to get my indoor garage storage approved. 

They will need to be licensed or your plans won't get approved by the HOA or city.