Preapproval Checklist

Everything your lender will ask for, so you can gather it once.

Bring all of this to your lender at the start and your preapproval will be worth something to a seller. A letter produced from an online form in four minutes is not the same document, and listing agents know the difference.

Identity and income

• Photo ID and Social Security number for every buyer
• Last 30 days of pay stubs for every job
• W-2s or 1099s for the last two years
• Federal tax returns for the last two years — all pages, all schedules
• If self-employed: two years of business returns plus a year-to-date profit and loss
• If retired: award letters for Social Security, pension or annuity income
• If using rental income: leases and the Schedule E from your returns

Assets

• Two months of statements for every account you will draw from — every page, including the blank ones
• Retirement or investment statements if funds are coming from them
• A written explanation for any deposit that is not payroll
• If any money is a gift: the donor’s signed gift letter and proof of transfer

Situation-specific

• VA buyers: Certificate of Eligibility, plus DD-214 or a current statement of service
• Divorced: the full decree and any support or alimony order
• Currently renting: twelve months of payment history or your landlord’s contact details
• Currently own: mortgage statement, tax bill, insurance policy and any HOA statement
• Buying with cash: proof of funds dated within 30 days, in the form sellers here expect

Do not do these while your loan is in process

• Change jobs, or switch from salary to contract, without telling your lender first
• Buy a car, furniture or appliances — even at zero percent
• Open, close or consolidate any credit account
• Move large sums between your own accounts without a paper trail
• Let anyone run a hard credit check
• Deposit cash without documenting where it came from

Any of these can undo an approval days before settlement. One phone call to your lender first costs nothing.

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