{"id":31717,"date":"2025-11-17T04:49:57","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T12:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=31717"},"modified":"2025-11-18T01:53:59","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T09:53:59","slug":"buyer-how-long-to-get-preapproved-for-a-mortgage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-long-to-get-preapproved-for-a-mortgage\/","title":{"rendered":"How Long Does It Take to Get Preapproved for a Mortgage?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re curious how long to get preapproved for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-what-is-a-mortgage\/\">mortgage<\/a>, the timeline might surprise you. In many cases, borrowers can move from browsing homes to securing real buying power in just minutes. Others choose a more detailed review that takes a day or two but gives them a stronger edge in competitive markets.<\/p>\n<p>Understanding these different timelines can help you plan your next steps and avoid missing out on the perfect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/homes-for-sale\">home<\/a>. It also lets you shop with confidence, knowing exactly when you\u2019ll be ready to make a serious offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"geo-cta widget-cta widget-cta--content     widget-cta--dark widget-cta--dark-blue-gradient\">\n    <div class=\"widget-element--content\">\n        <div class=\"widget-element--content-header\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"homelight logo\" class=\"widget-element--logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/ccprototypev5\/images\/logo-small-cta.png\" width=\"106\" height=\"25\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        \n                <h3 class=\"cta-headline widget--bold\">Find a Top Buyer\u2019s Agent to Guide You<\/h3>\n                        <p>HomeLight can connect you with a top real estate agent familiar with the mortgage application process and home listings in your area. We analyze over 27 million transactions and thousands of reviews to determine which agent is best for you based on your needs.<\/p>\n        \n                <div class=\"widget-element--buttons\">\n            <a data-type=\"In Content CTA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/find-agent\/quiz\/buyer?#\/qaas=0\/\" class=\"cta-click-track widget-element--button\">Get Started<\/a>\n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s take a closer look at the pre-approval timeline and the requirements you must submit to get things rolling.<\/p>\n<div id=\"section--1\" data-toc-header=\"How long does it take to get preapproved?\" data-toc-type=\"head\"><\/div>\n<h2>How long does it take to get preapproved for a mortgage?<\/h2>\n<p>The loan approval timeline depends on whether you\u2019re getting prequalified, preapproved, or going for an underwritten preapproval. In general, you can expect:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Prequalification: as little as five minutes<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Preapproval: as little as one business day<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Underwritten preapproval: typically one to two business days, at a minimum<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each option requires different levels of documentation and review, which is why the turnaround time varies.<\/p>\n<p>Preapproval depends on your lender\u2019s timetable and the documents you need to gather. \u201cGo with the turn time that the lender states and then add an extra day to it, just to be safe,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/rhelali\/\">Richie Helali<\/a>, a mortgage expert with HomeLight who gave us the inside scoop on how long a mortgage preapproval really takes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How long to get preapproved for a mortgage? Learn the typical timeline and all the information you must submit to get things rolling fast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":241,"featured_media":39235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192,629,632],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-buyers","category-home-financing","category-mortgage-loans"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How Long Does It Take to Get Preapproved for a Mortgage?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How long to get preapproved for a mortgage? Learn the typical timeline and all the information you must submit to get things rolling fast.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-long-to-get-preapproved-for-a-mortgage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Long Does It Take to Get Preapproved for a Mortgage?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How long to get preapproved for a mortgage? Learn the typical timeline and all the information you must submit to get things rolling fast.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-long-to-get-preapproved-for-a-mortgage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HomeLight Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-17T12:49:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-18T09:53:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Untitled-design-31-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"563\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steph Mickelson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steph Mickelson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"14 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Long Does It Take to Get Preapproved for a Mortgage?","description":"How long to get preapproved for a mortgage? 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