Navy Federal Pre-Qualified questions

[literofcola]

I applied for Navy Fed mortgage 2 nights ago, with the intention of getting a "pre-approval" letter,so I can make an offer on a home that will be taken seriously.

Less than 24 hours later a Navy Fed rep called me while I was at work , with a few simple questions, and by the end of yesterday I received a letter of "pre-qualification" from navy fed.  She told me on the phone she would have the "prer-qual" letter to my email by the end of yesterday, and when she stated that I explained that I was hoping to go to the "pre-approval" stage....she then told me Navy Federal only issues "pre-qual" letters but for all intenets and purposes it was the same thing.

Now I was at work and busy , so I had no time for follow up questions, but I did receive a "pre-qual" letter by 5 PM yesterday ( friday)

Navy Fed is closed ( mortgage department ) until Monday....so now I have been left wondering is this pre qual letter , as good as a pre-approval? 

Anybody with experience dealing with Navy Fed lmk, what you think.

TIA

[CreditInspired]

I also got a prequal ltr from NFCU and it was accepted by the Seller when I put a contract on the house. I was very lucky.

I say that because if the Seller had gotten a similar offer the same day and the other buyer had a preapproval, that buyer’s offer would have been the one accepted because a preapproval letter is much stronger than a prequalification letter.

A prequal is based on your scores and oral info you provide. A preapproval is based on your scores, W2, paystubs, and bank statements.

And boy was I glad I didn’t find a house in the price range the prequal was for — $495K. Come to find out I qualified for almost a $100K less when they ran the numbers.

But everything worked out fine and I closed 6 weeks later.

[Anonymous]

I do not believe that NFCU issues pre-approval letters until you have a contract. I've used NFCU twice for my mortgages and just closed last week with them. In both circumstances I received a pre-qual letter, followed by pre-approval letter once they had my contract. No problem with using the pre-qual letter in either circumstance and closed on time for both mortgages. NFCU is a bit non-responisve, so be on top of them.

[literofcola]

Thanks. I also just applied through Rocket Mortgage and got a pre-approval , ( after first getting a pre-qualify) . I always thought( this is my first home purchase this first mortgage) that approval was going to be more difficult

[CreditInspired]

Pre-approval is not the same as approval. Approval is when the real process begins.

Verifying income
Verifying monies for closing & reserves
Verifying rent
Reviewing bank statements
Getting 4506 from IRS
Getting your W2 and/or 1099