Is it unusual to receive a pre-approval letter from a broker without first submitting personal info ie, ss#, employment verification, account balances, etc? Even a pre-qualification letter requires ss# to check credit report.

Is the broker simply putting off doing all the 'work' until a contract is written up? Anyone experience this before? It would be extremely embarrassing (and not to mention, a waste of time to the buyer and seller) to make an offer only to find out later that you can't get loan approval because the broker didn't run your info first.

Thanks,
roboson

Try the mortgage forum at creditboards. Maybe some of the brokers there can give you some info.

Guess it kinda depends. Ultimately it's up to the lender to determine, but on the broker's end they can have you preapproved running your case through an AUS (automated underwriting system). Since that's not the case here, I'd assume that it's comparable to a pre approved auto loan offer which is subject to two pages of fine print.