What's the difference between pre-qualification and pre-approval?

Pre-qualification is a quick estimate based on numbers you tell the lender — no credit pull, no income verification, no real underwriting. It's basically a guess and it carries almost no weight with sellers. Pre-approval is the real thing: the lender pulls your credit, verifies your income with pay stubs, W-2s, and tax returns, confirms your assets with bank statements, and runs your file through automated underwriting. You walk away with a written letter that says exactly how much you can borrow and at what rate. In a competitive market, listing agents will often refuse to even present an offer that's only pre-qualified — they want to see a real pre-approval from a real lender. I do full pre-approvals, not pre-qualifications, because the last thing I want is for you to fall in love with a house and then find out you don't actually qualify.