If you get preapproved does that mean you pretty much have a loan?

It should but there are still loan officers out there that fail their borrowers by doing a poor job of qualifying them. On the other hand if you are a borderline borrower then it will all be up to the underwriter. The human factor!

Generally a Pre-Approval should be issued after an underwriter has reviewed the file. There are many wholesale lenders that offer this service to their brokers. Not sure on the retail side (if you walk into your local bank). If a loan officer is issuing a Pre-Approval without the underwriter reviewing the file, then it's not worth much more than the piece of paper it is written on. I always advise my clients that it isn't a done deal until they sign the closing paperwork.

A Pre-Approval is typically just a summary of what you "may" qualify for assuming all of the input was correct. That information is subject to underwriting review and assuming all of the criteria matches up (income, assets, credit, etc), then your loan should go smoothly along. I would be requesting an update on your underwriting process as soon as you know your full file was submitted to be sure you know exactly how things are progressing and can plan accordingly. Good Luck!