Preapproval

To preapprove you, a lender collects income documentation, asset statements, and your debts, pulls your credit, and issues a letter stating how much it is prepared to lend and on roughly what terms. The letter usually holds for 60 to 90 days.

It is a materially different document from a prequalification, which rests on numbers you supplied without verification and commits the lender to nothing. Sellers know the difference, and in a competitive market an offer without a preapproval letter attached is often not considered at all.

It is still conditional. Full underwriting and an appraisal come later, and a preapproval assumes nothing changes in the meantime — opening a new credit line, changing jobs, or depositing a large sum you cannot document can all undo it between the letter and the closing.

Shopping several lenders does not damage your credit the way it appears to. Scoring models treat multiple mortgage inquiries inside a short window, typically two to six weeks depending on the model, as a single event precisely so that comparison is not penalized.

The most important thing to know about the number in the letter is that it is a ceiling, not a recommendation. It is derived from debt-to-income limits applied to gross pay, before taxes, retirement contributions, or anything you actually spend money on.