Prequalified vs Preapproved... What's the difference?

There is a difference and it's not about verbiage at all, it's about tangible acts that are done. I wrote a blog on this that explains the differences so please click on my profile and view the blog. Unfortunately this site does not allow me to link you to it.

If you really want to know if you are going to be able to purcahse your home without surprises.You need to get an approval from an underwriter that is the only way to be 100% sure

PRE-QUALIFIED = A worthless, meaningless statement. Essentially it means you've spoken to a lender, they have taken your information, maybe even pulled credit. They they can say "It looks like you should be able to get financing." PRE-APPROVAL = Much much better, but still a worthless, meaningless statement. It means you have done the initial pre-qualify, but have followed it up by actually submitting your documents (pay stubs, bank statements, etc) to the Loan Officer for review. The true "issue" with pre-approval, is that it is still only a "sounds good, looks good" statement, versus any sort of guarantee. The only guarantee that you get the loan is when you are sitting at the closing table. To make it worse, technically only an underwriter can issue a valid pre-approval after a full credit review of a file, but 99% of pre-approval letters are only written after review from a Loan Officer... and as we all know, not all loan officers are created equal.