No. Pre-approval is a strong initial assessment based on the information you provide, but final approval depends on property appraisal, title search, and verification of your income, assets, and employment. Market conditions can also affect terms. Pre-approval does mean a lender has reviewed your situation and believes you're likely to qualify.

The initial eligibility check on our website does not pull your credit and has zero impact on your score. When you move forward with a full pre-approval, we'll do a "soft" or "hard" credit inquiry depending on what's needed — we'll explain this before we do it.

Typical documents include:

• Recent pay stubs (30 days)
• W-2s or 1099s (last 2 years)
• Bank statements (last 2-3 months)
• Government-issued ID
• Social Security number

Self-employed borrowers may need tax returns and profit/loss statements. We'll give you a personalized checklist after your initial consultation.

Once we have your documents, most pre-approvals are issued within 1-3 business days. The initial eligibility check takes just 60 seconds. If you're in a time crunch (e.g., you found a home you love), let us know — we can often expedite.

FHA loans are designed to be more accessible. Borrowers with credit scores as low as 580 may qualify for the 3.5% down payment option. Scores between 500-579 may still qualify with a 10% down payment. We'll review your full picture — credit is important, but it's not the only factor.

No! While FHA is popular with first-time buyers because of the low down payment, it's available to anyone buying a primary residence. You can use FHA whether it's your first home or your fifth — as long as it will be your main residence.