How mortgage pre-approval works
Three steps. Connect your accounts, let the system verify your income and assets, and get a letter you can attach to an offer. About 90 seconds from start to finish.
Getting pre-approved used to mean uploading documents, waiting days, and hoping the letter held up. Preqly verifies your income and assets digitally, then issues a pre-approval letter you can use when you write an offer.
The checks are the same ones a lender runs. What changes is that nobody has to read paperwork first.
The three steps
About 90 seconds end to end
Step by step
What actually happens at each step
Tap a step to see what you do, and what runs behind the scenes.
Connect Data
You answer a short application, then link the bank accounts you already use. That is the whole of your part.
- Name, email and phone
- Loan purpose, and the ZIP if you have one
- Sign in to your bank the way you normally would
- Open a read-only connection to the account
- Pull balances and transaction history
- Nothing else. We cannot move money
AI Analysis
The engine reads what an underwriter would read. Income patterns, what you have saved, and how the numbers stack up against lending rules.
- Nothing. This part runs on its own
- No documents to find or scan
- No phone call to wait for
- Income, and whether it is steady enough to count
- Savings left after a down payment and closing costs
- Debt-to-income ratio against program limits
Preqly Certified
Your letter is issued. It shows what you qualify for, the loan program, and how long it lasts.
- Your maximum loan amount
- The loan program you qualify under
- An expiry date, usually 60 to 90 days
- Attach it to an offer straight away
- Ask for it to be reissued at your offer price
- Take it to any lender you want
That is the whole process
Nothing to print, sign or scan. No credit check at this stage.
Start your pre-approvalStep 1, in more detail
Connecting a bank account
This is the part people pause on. Connecting is read-only verification. We use it to confirm income and assets, not to move money.
Read-only access
We can see your balance and transactions. We cannot send, withdraw or transfer anything.
Encrypted
Your data is encrypted when it moves and when it is stored, to the same standard banks use.
You stay in control
You pick which accounts to connect, and you can disconnect once you have your letter.
Questions
Questions about the process
How long does the whole thing take?
About 90 seconds. The short application takes under a minute, connecting your accounts takes seconds, and the verification and letter are close to instant.
Is connecting my bank account safe?
The connection is read-only. It can see your balance and transactions to confirm income and savings, and it cannot move money. Your data is encrypted the whole way.
Do I need to upload anything?
No. Nothing at this stage. Documents come later, once a loan officer takes over for final approval. What lenders usually ask for.
Does this check my credit?
Not at this stage, so it cannot affect your score. The credit check happens later, with a loan officer. Soft and hard credit checks.
What do I actually get at the end?
A verified pre-approval letter with your amount, loan program, verification status and expiry date. What is inside the letter.
What if the answer is no?
We tell you, and we explain what usually needs to change. Most reasons are timing, not permanent. Since there is no credit check, finding out costs you nothing.
Keep reading
Related guides
Mortgage pre-approval
What is inside the letter and why agents call to check it.
Loan programs
Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA and jumbo compared.
What lenders check
Credit, debt-to-income, income and savings, with the real numbers.
Independent sources
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — the mortgage process from application to closing
Start your pre-approval
Three steps, about 90 seconds, and nothing to upload.
Start your pre-approval