PRE-QUALIFIED OR PRE-APPROVED? WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

There’s a lot to learn when you’re starting out on your home buying journey. From concepts like earnest money to closing costs, it’s a lot to take in during a very short period. But of all the things to know, understanding the difference between being pre-qualified and pre-approved for your mortgage is one of the most important.

Why Your Mortgage Application Status Matters

It’s always been a good idea to bring a strong offer to the negotiating table when it comes to real estate, but it’s even more vital when the market is short on inventory and long on buyers. If you’re in a multiple offer situation (and sometimes, even if you’re not), the sellers are going to weigh the various offers they receive to decide if they think your offer is enough to bring in what they need to sell their home, as well as considering how strong an offer it is.

A strong offer is one that has a lot of the obstacles already removed. For example, if you need to sell your house before you can close on the one you’re making an offer on, this might be considered a weak offer for some sellers. A weak offer doesn’t mean a bad offer, necessarily; it’s simply an offer that looks like it could be tricky to actually get to the closing table. The risk versus reward is too high. This is why having the right kind of mortgage application status plays in your favor when it comes to negotiation.

Mortgage Pre-Qualification Versus Mortgage Pre-Approval

When you meet with a lender for the first time, they generally ask some probing questions about your income and assets, as well as your expenses and credit file. They’re not just being nosy; that lender is trying to help figure out just how much home you can qualify for and what programs might be best for your financial picture. Sometimes, these lenders will send you elsewhere because their banks or partner lending institutions simply can’t help you, but in a lot of cases, they’ll produce something called a pre-qualification letter.

Pre-qualification goes largely by your word about your income and expenses and is not a promise to lend. It’s simply a hypothetical among a list of hypotheticals. If you do in fact make this much money, your credit is as assumed, the house you choose lines up with these guidelines, and rates don’t change dramatically, you should be able to buy this much house. You can see how that would be a bit dodgy for a seller to hang all their hopes on.

A pre-approval, on the other hand, shows that you’ve gone through the additional steps to reach the highest level of mortgage approval you can get without actually having a house secured (the house you choose also figures into the final approval, but just how it figures depends on the loan program). For a pre-approval, you’ll need to provide income documents, permission for the lender to pull a full credit report, and details on any assets or liabilities you hold that aren’t included in your credit file.

A pre-approval isn’t instant; it requires more review, and you’ll need to choose a lending program to be approved for. However, doing all this extra work shows potential sellers that you’re already putting in a lot of effort to ensure you can actually close when the day comes and that you’re eager to move the process along as quickly as possible. That’s the kind of buyer a seller wants to see!

If you are ready to purchase a property, give the Rural KC Team a call.  Bill at 913-837-0760 or Danicia at 913-837-0411.  We have lenders ready to help you!

CHOOSING YOUR COUNTERTOPS

 

CHOOSING YOUR COUNTERTOPS

The countertops in your kitchen can make a big difference in how your kitchen looks overall. If you’re tired of your kitchen looking old and dated, updating your countertops is a great way to completely revitalize its look. There are a number of materials used in modern countertops that will help your kitchen stand out.

Countertop Materials

Here are just a few options to consider if you really want to give things a modern look:

Soapstone
Stone surfaces have long been a favorite material for kitchen countertops, but soapstone has come into its own in recent years. Its heat and stain-resistant like granite, non-porous (and thus liquid-resistant) like marble, and has a softer texture than you’ll find with many stone surfaces. Just be careful, as there are two actually different materials that are sometimes called soapstone; one of these is talc, which isn’t going to give you the surface that you’re looking for. The soapstone that you want to get is steatite, which fortunately is much more common when shopping for countertop materials.

Leathered Granite
Granite has been popular as a counter surface for years but has always had the drawback of being a porous material, meaning you have to be careful with spills. Leathered granite solves this problem while giving the classic stone a modern update as well. The surface of the granite is slightly roughed by diamond-tipped brushes, enhancing the stone’s natural color while cutting back on some of the shine and closing those infamous pores. The end result is a durable stone countertop with a unique look and a slight texture that really does feel similar to leather.

Engineered Quartz
Like granite, quartz has been used as a countertop material for years. So what’s the deal with engineered quartz? Unlike traditional quartz countertops, these are made with ground quartz mixed with resins to create a very hard and natural-looking surface. Colors can be added to create tints to match a wide range of decorating styles. Engineered quartz resists staining, corrosion, and damage from most cleaners. Just keep in mind that, like natural quartz, these countertops can still be damaged by heat.

Solid-Surface Acrylics
There are a few different brands of solid-surface acrylic countertops available, notably including Corian and Swanstone. These countertops mix acrylics with resin to create a stain-resistant surface that’s available in a wide range of colors, and that can be sanded to repair scratches or other small bits of damage. Perhaps more importantly, the man-made nature of these countertops means that they can be easily customized to meet the specific needs of your home. Their main drawback is that they tend to be vulnerable to heat damage, given that they are still made of plastic.

Concrete
Over the last several years, concrete countertops have become very popular in modern kitchens. They can be made on-site to ensure that they match your unique kitchen perfectly, and their dense nature means your countertops can take a beating without suffering much damage. Textures, acid-stained colors, and more can be added to the countertops during the creation process, and additives or sealants can significantly reduce the porosity of the concrete itself. These countertops do occasionally have issues with cracking, though modern methods have reduced this significantly. Even when they do crack, however, most concrete countertops can be repaired on-site.

Thank you for reading our blog this week.  As always, if you have any questions or any real estate needs, please don't hesitate to call us at Bill-913-837-0760 or Danicia-913-837-0411.  

 

Garage Door Options

Here are some current garage door trends that could speak volumes:

• Bright Colors. There was a time when garage doors came in muted neutral colors and whites, and absolutely nothing else. Thankfully, those times are in the rearview mirror and we’re living in a far more enlightened – and vibrant – age. Bright colors can help enhance especially interesting woodwork on garage doors, complement homes with a lot of colors, like Spanish styles or Victorians, or make fancy hardware pop like nothing else. Be careful with bright colors, though, because there is such a thing as too much; you can end up overwhelming the rest of your home if you don’t use them with caution. White trim on a brightly colored garage door, for example, can help contain the energy if you need to tone it down a bit.
• Sleek Industrial Lines. There’s something about clean, sharp lines that can turn a modern house into an ultra-modern one. Those industrial lines are still a hot commodity, as are glass panels in nearly invisible aluminum frames. The look isn’t right for every home, but an industrial garage door can be an incredibly flexible design element, especially when placed against square-cut stone, dark-colored shiplap, or natural wood siding.
• Country Cottage Styling. The whole country cottage meets industrial hardware look has really had some staying power. Not only does it give a big helping of nostalgia to a lot of people, it also makes it easier to blend more modern elements into older homes that may have been seriously deprived of any sense of self by excessively generic remodels of the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. It may come as no surprise, then, that garage doors that are designed to echo the same look are also super popular. Choose carriage house doors or doors that resemble barn doors for an industrial cottage look beyond the interior of your home. Pairing these garage options with Dutch lap siding or irregular stone or brickwork can really make both the doors and the house pop.
• Natural Wood. Sure, natural wood doors have been available for some time, but never in anywhere near as many designs or tones. Look for solid wood doors for a lot of rustic flair, or choose a synthetic wood door for a modern home to give it a little more earthy feel without all the maintenance. Your industrial homestead can really make a statement with wooden garage doors made from horizontal stripes in different wooden tones.
• Asymmetry. Mid-century modern homes are gaining a lot of popularity these days, but until recently there wasn’t a great garage door complement for them. Say hello to the asymmetrical door. With garage windows on one side rather than across the top, these unusual statement doors are perfectly paired with other square and rectangular outdoor elements, just like what you’d find on a vintage MCM ranch style home. Those side windows still let in a lot of light, while allowing a great deal of security and privacy inside your garage. It’s kind of the whole package.

As always, the Rural KC Team is here to help you with all of your real estate needs.  Visit our website at ruralkc.com or give us a call.  Bill-913-837-0760 or Danicia 913-837-0411.  Have a great day!