Originally Published at The Motley Fool

First, I am aware of the fact that “preapproval” is a stronger status than “prequalification” as far as demonstrating that you can purchase a property. If we are looking to buy/sell in June or July, is now the time to get a preapproval or is it too soon? Also, is there any advantage to getting preapproved by more than one lender?

A) Its not to soon at all to get pre-approved, since you still need to get out & hunt… but far more importantly, its not too soon to get started interviewing & shopping for a quality loan officer (which is far more important in your results than shopping institutions… let alone imaginary futuristic rate/fees.)

B) I could see advantages of having your chosen loan pro work up pre-approvals based on 2 or more loan scenarios (perhaps from different providers with different underwriting guidelines.) I see no functional advantage to having two different loan officers (blind of each others’ efforts) working up pre-approvals independently.

Next, I’m a bit concerned about how we are going to time the buy/sell in terms of financing. Ideally we would buy slightly before we sell so that we have a chance to move our belongings to the new home. However, I would like to have access to my current equity in order to boost my down payment on the purchased home. Are bridge loans a good idea?

Bridge loans are next to extinct at current. Your better bet is to have your loan officer create a HELOC at the maxium allowable loan-to-value on your existing home *NOW*…. *BEFORE* you even legitimately begin shopping a new home. Why the urgency? Because you’ll be certifying your *INTENT* to occupy as your primary residence in order to close on the HELOC… and if your old/current home is listed for sale, you’re dead in the water.

Is it still possible in this credit-constrained environment to buy a house with a jumbo loan and only put down 5% or 10%? My wife and I both have excellent credit scores (~800).

the answer is “it depends” and “possibly, yes.” Your location is going to determine whether your jumbo loan amounts are buyable by the government, or whether your loans must be held by private institutions. The government is willing to take far more risks (thank your taxpaying friends & neighbors for their support ;~) so if you are in a region where your jumbo loans can be sold to Fannie or Freddie you can get away with less down payment (and reserve more of your liquidity.)

Finally, will it cause any problems if my wife’s job, which will be the larger income, has not yet started. She has an offer letter in hand with salary specified, but will likely not start until September. It is a stable field (she is a doctor).

Again, it depends on how solid her employment commitments verify to be. In the current environment, many lenders are requiring closings to wait until an initial work-day has occured (but not all.)

As you shop your new home, having a finance pro (and flexible Realtor