The Key Steps in Getting Pre-Approval for Your First Home
If you’re thinking about buying your first home, getting pre-approval is often one of the first major steps people talk about — but it’s also one of the most misunderstood.
Pre-approval isn’t just a formality. When done properly, it gives you clarity, confidence, and realistic boundaries before you start house hunting. Understanding the steps involved can help you avoid delays, disappointment, and unnecessary stress later on.
Here’s a clear, first-home-buyer-friendly breakdown of the key steps involved in the pre-approval process.
Step 1: Understand Your Starting Point
Before any application is submitted, the pre-approval process starts with understanding where you stand financially.
This includes reviewing your income, living expenses, existing debts, savings, and deposit. It’s also the stage where you begin to form a realistic picture of what repayments may feel comfortable — not just what a lender might approve.
Getting clarity at this stage sets the foundation for everything that follows.
Step 2: Assess Your Borrowing Power
Borrowing power is the amount a lender may be willing to lend you based on their criteria.
This calculation considers factors such as your income stability, expenses, interest rates, and overall financial position. It’s important to remember that borrowing power is not a spending target — it’s a guide.
Understanding this step helps you shop within a realistic price range and reduces the risk of overcommitting.
Step 3: Review Your Credit Position
As part of pre-approval, lenders assess your credit history to understand how you’ve managed credit in the past.
This includes existing loans, credit cards, and any missed or late payments. Reviewing your credit position early helps identify and address potential issues before they affect your application.
Keeping your financial behaviour consistent during this stage is important.
Step 4: Choose the Right Loan Structure
Pre-approval isn’t just about the amount — it’s also about the structure of the loan.
This step involves deciding whether a fixed, variable, or split loan may suit you, as well as considering features such as offset accounts or redraw facilities.
Choosing the right structure early helps ensure the loan supports both your current needs and future plans.
Step 5: Submit the Pre-Approval Application
Once your financial position and loan structure are clear, the pre-approval application can be submitted to a lender.
This usually involves providing documentation such as payslips, bank statements, and identification. The lender then reviews the information and assesses whether they’re willing to lend up to a certain amount, subject to conditions.
At this stage, the approval is still conditional — not final.
Step 6: Receive Conditional Approval
If the lender is satisfied with the information provided, they issue a pre-approval (also known as conditional approval).
This confirms the loan amount they may be willing to lend, along with any conditions that must be met before final approval. It usually has a validity period, commonly three to six months.
Understanding the conditions attached is critical.
Step 7: Maintain Your Financial Position
Once you have pre-approval, it’s important to keep your financial situation stable.
Changes such as taking on new debt, changing jobs, or making large purchases can impact your approval. Pre-approval assumes your circumstances remain broadly the same.
Being mindful during this stage helps prevent surprises later.
Step 8: Find the Right Property
With pre-approval in place, you can begin house hunting with confidence.
Keep in mind that the property itself still needs to meet the lender’s criteria. Factors such as property type, location, and valuation all play a role in final approval.
Pre-approval supports your search — it doesn’t replace the final checks.
Step 9: Move From Pre-Approval to Final Approval
Once you’ve found a property and signed a contract (subject to finance), the lender completes a final assessment.
This includes reviewing the property, confirming your financial position hasn’t changed, and satisfying any outstanding conditions. Once approved, the loan can proceed toward settlement.
Get the Pre-Approval Process Right From the Start
Pre-approval isn’t just about speed — it’s about certainty and confidence.
Chase Douglas has extensive experience in mortgage lending and works closely with first-home buyers to guide them through each step of the pre-approval process, explaining what matters, what to avoid, and how to position themselves for success.
Whether you’re just starting to think about buying or want to make sure your pre-approval truly supports your goals, speaking with Chase can make the process clearer and far less stressful.
If you’re planning to buy your first home, now is the right time to
talk to Chase
and make sure your pre-approval is working for you — not against you.
