Steps after prequalification

[Anonymous]

Lender pulled my FICO scores (816, 794, and 778) and gave me prequalification letter. What are the next steps in the process? Thanks

[Anonymous]

Ask for a preapproval letter.

[dragontears]

Find a house would be the next step

[Anonymous]

Find a house and get under contract.

[Anonymous]

I am looking at homes in different parts of the city city (in Texas) and the tax rate is significantly different within the same city. (3.4 versus 2.8). Why is that the case?

[Revelate]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Ask for a preapproval letter.

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Pre-qual and pre-approval letters are effectively one and the same in today's market, any sellers agent worth a darn will be calling the LO anyway I suspect to find out the strength of the file.

[Revelate]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am looking at homes in different parts of the city city (in Texas) and the tax rate is significantly different within the same city. (3.4 versus 2.8). Why is that the case?

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Are you certain it's the same city from a tax perspective?  Can be incorporated places inside the city with different tax rates.

[Anonymous]

No Realtor considers a pre qual the same as a pre approval and with as many problems as people have had closing the deals lately a simple prequal is not worth much. Perhaps the next step would be to research the difference between the two.

If your in a competitive market the realtor is going to take the preapproved offer over a prequal any day.

[Anonymous]

From a fellow (new) Texan, I can understand the confusion about the tax rates.

Texas has a 'Robin-hood' tax system, and what that means is that in higher income pockets the tax rate is higher, so that schools have money to distribute to the lower income areas. You'll notice that nearly all of your taxes (about 75%) are school district taxes. So, taxes vary school district to school district, as well as other factors, such as being unincorporated, incorporated, having a MUD tax, etc.

One block over can be a school district with taxes at 2.1, while the next block has 1.4.

[Anonymous]

Is there a site where I can find specific tax rates for each zip code? Should the tax rate play a considerable factor in decision of where to purchase home?