Bid-Ready

“A pre-qualification is a lender's estimate based on what you tell them. A pre-approval is a verified commitment based on documented income, assets, and credit. In competitive markets, sellers treat pre-quals as worthless and pre-approvals as currency.”

“In competitive markets, homes often sell above appraised value. An appraisal gap — the difference between your offer price and the appraised value — can kill your deal unless you have a strategy for bridging it.”

“A 2-1 buydown reduces your interest rate by 2% in year one and 1% in year two, with the cost typically paid by the seller as a concession. It creates significant payment relief during the most financially strained period of homeownership.”