What is confirmed, and what isn’t yet
Three stages, often mixed up
The first estimate uses the numbers you give me. The application adds credit plus proof of income and funds. The final review adds the property, its value, and the lender’s conditions.
- Estimate: a rough search budget
- Application: your complete file in front of a lender
- Approval: written conditions you have to meet
An offer below the prequalified amount
A worked example
You report $92,000 of income, $400 of monthly debts, and $40,000 down. The prequalification points to a price around $430,000. At pre-approval, the pay stubs show $86,000, a forgotten card adds $150 a month, and the lender tests the payment at the qualifying rate rather than the advertised rate. The amount falls back to around $385,000. Nothing changed in your life; verified numbers simply replaced numbers from memory. After an accepted offer, final approval adds the property: municipal taxes higher than the average used trim a few thousand more.
When it does not apply
If you are paying cash, none of the three stages concerns you. If your income is stable, salaried, debt-free, with a down payment sitting in an account for a long time, the gap between prequalification and pre-approval will be small, and you can aim closer to the first figure. Finally, a pre-approval older than 90 to 120 days is no longer one: after that window, the lender requires current documents and recalculates the rate.
What a rate hold is worth
A preapproval often comes with a rate held for 90 to 120 days. That protects you against an increase while you shop, and if rates fall, the lender usually applies the lower rate at funding. But the hold covers the rate, not the mortgage: it says nothing about the property you have not yet found. It expires, and once expired, everything is recalculated with current documents, including pay stubs from the new period. Two traps. First: a hold obtained with incomplete documents is worth no more than an estimate; the lender re-underwrites it when the offer comes in. Second: shopping a hold at several lenders multiplies credit inquiries; through a broker, one inquiry serves them all. When you find the house, the hold does one thing: you sign at the promised rate or the current rate, whichever is lower.
How Mathieu can help
Sources and review
FCAC — Mortgage preapproval. Reviewed August 12, 2026.