An informal estimate of how much you might be able to borrow, based on information you provide. Quick and easy, but carries little weight with sellers compared to a pre-approval.
A pre-qualification is the first, lightest step in the mortgage process. You tell a lender about your income, debts, and assets — often online in a few minutes — and they give you an estimate of what you might be able to borrow. No credit pull is required, no documentation is verified.
Because nothing is verified, a pre-qualification carries very little weight with sellers. It's more useful as a self-check for buyers — a rough sense of whether you're in a $300K range or a $600K range before you start shopping.
Don't confuse this with pre-approval, which involves a credit pull, document review, and a real commitment from the lender. A pre-approval is what sellers actually want to see with an offer.
Example
You spend 10 minutes online with Benchmark's pre-qualification tool. You enter $90K income, $400/mo car payment, and $50K saved. The tool estimates you could qualify for a $350K home. You haven't talked to a loan officer or had your credit checked yet — this is just a starting point.
Also known as
prequalification, prequal, mortgage prequal