Help! I'm so lost!

How does this work with the mortgage? We bid on a house and they accepted our offer. The owners are looking to close the end of Nov/beginning of Dec. They want me to send them a pre-approval letter. I am going to call a mortgage broker that a friend recommended to get pre-approved tomorrow. Then what?
Do I ask her to get me quotes from mortgage companies? I also want to get quotes through lendingtree. How long are the quotes good for? Do we apply for a mortgage right after the contracts are signed or do we wait? How long does it take to be approved for the mortgage once you apply (if it is with a diff. company than you got pre-approval from)?
I'm so lost

Message edited 8/17/2005 9:13:45 PM.

Re: Help! I'm so lost!

We got pre-approved by one mtg broker at first, then when we really started looking at houses, our realtor hooked us up with the mtg broker she uses. We then got another pre-approval letter.
Once you make the offer and your offer is accepted, you can find out approximately what your payments are going to be.
Once your offer is accepted, you need to get the house inspected..you should do that within I think 48 hours of the offer being accepted. If all goes smoothly, a contract has to be written up and must be signed by both parties. Until the sellers sign, they can still show the house and accept another offer, so you should really do everything as quickly as possible!
After the sellers sign and the contract goes back to your attorney, they should be able to set a closing date, then you'll get locked into your mortgage rate, and hopefully everything will go smoothly and you'll close with no problems!