A pre-approved home loan is an in-principal approval for a loan given on the basis of your income, creditworthiness and financial position. Generally, pre-approved loans are taken prior to property selection. Some lenders also provide the facility to get an instant e-approval by allowing you to make an online application for the home loan.

A pre-approved home loan is an offer for a loan based on your repayment capacity. The disbursal of the home loan is subject to you identifying a property within the validity period of the pre-approved loan and the property meeting the lender’s legal and technical due diligence requirements. For example, while you may have a pre-approved loan offer in hand, the lender may not disburse the home loan in case the property titles are not clear, or the ownership structure does not fall within the lender’s permitted norms.

A pre-approved loan offer is valid for a limited period (usually six months). You have to finalize the property within the validity period failing which you will have to get your loan application reappraised at a nominal cost by providing your latest income documents to the lender.

Generally, during the pre-approval stage, only your income documents are evaluated. While prior to loan disbursal, property documents are verified by the lender. As lenders finish the credit appraisal in advance, the turnaround time on the entire loan process (from loan approval to disbursement) is reduced. Quick processing of the loan facilitates easy purchase of property. You do not have to miss out on a good property deal or worry about increase in prices.