A mortgage pre-approval typically lasts 30 to 90 days, with most lenders setting the expiration at 60 or 90 days. Your pre-approval letter should list either a specific expiration date or the number of days it remains valid. Once it expires, you’ll need to renew it before sellers and their agents will accept it alongside an offer.
Why Pre-Approvals Expire
Lenders put an expiration date on pre-approval letters because your financial picture can shift quickly. Your credit score, income, employment status, and debt levels are all snapshots taken at a specific moment. A pre-approval issued three months ago may no longer reflect your actual borrowing capacity. Lenders want to verify that nothing has changed before they commit to backing your purchase.
Interest rates also move over time. The loan amount and terms you qualified for at one rate may look different if rates have risen or fallen since the letter was issued. Expiration dates protect both you and the lender from working with outdated numbers.
What Can Void a Pre-Approval Early
Your pre-approval can become worthless before it officially expires if your financial situation changes. These are the most common triggers:
- Job loss or job change. Even switching to a higher-paying role can raise questions, since lenders like to see stable employment history. Losing a job will almost certainly void the pre-approval.
- New debt. Taking out a car loan, financing furniture, or running up credit card balances increases your debt-to-income ratio, which is the share of your monthly income that goes toward debt payments. Lenders set strict limits on this ratio, and crossing the threshold can disqualify you.
- Credit score drops. Opening new credit accounts, missing payments, or increasing your credit utilization (how much of your available credit you’re using) can all lower your score enough to change your loan terms or knock you out of eligibility.
- Large deposits or withdrawals. Unusual account activity can trigger additional scrutiny during underwriting, even if the pre-approval letter hasn’t expired yet.
A pre-approval is not a guarantee of funding. Even with a valid letter in hand, the lender will re-verify your finances before closing. Any discrepancies between your situation at pre-approval and your situation at underwriting can result in a denial.
How to Renew an Expired Pre-Approval
Renewing a pre-approval is usually simpler than getting one for the first time. You’ll contact your lender, update any information that has changed (pay stubs, bank statements, tax documents), and authorize a new credit check. The lender may need to pull your credit again, which counts as a hard inquiry on your credit report. Hard inquiries can lower your score by a few points, though credit scoring models generally treat multiple mortgage-related inquiries within a 14- to 45-day window as a single inquiry, so bunching your applications together minimizes the impact.
If your financial situation has stayed the same or improved, renewal is typically straightforward and can be completed in a day or two. If something has changed for the worse, you may receive different loan terms or a lower approved amount.
Pre-Approval vs. Rate Lock
A pre-approval tells you how much a lender is willing to let you borrow. A rate lock guarantees a specific interest rate for a set period, typically 30, 45, or 60 days according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. These are two separate commitments, and their timelines don’t necessarily overlap.
You generally lock your rate after you’ve made an offer and it’s been accepted, not when you first get pre-approved. If your home search takes longer than expected, your pre-approval might expire and need renewal, but that has no effect on a future rate lock. Think of the pre-approval as your shopping pass and the rate lock as the price tag you secure once you’ve found the house.
Timing Your Pre-Approval
The best time to get pre-approved is shortly before you start actively looking at homes and making offers. If you get pre-approved six months before you’re ready to buy, you’ll almost certainly need to renew it at least once, and each renewal means updated paperwork and another credit pull.
On the other hand, waiting until you’ve found a house to start the pre-approval process puts you at a disadvantage. Sellers in competitive markets often won’t consider offers without a pre-approval letter attached. Getting one takes anywhere from a few hours to a few business days depending on the lender and how quickly you can gather your documents. Starting two to four weeks before you plan to tour homes gives you a valid letter in hand and the maximum runway before it expires.
If your search drags on past the expiration date, don’t stress. Renewal is routine. Just keep your finances stable, avoid taking on new debt, and stay in touch with your lender so the refresh goes smoothly.