Tangerine Mortgage Pre-approval? What You Need To Know 

Looking for Tangerine mortgage preapproval? This post covers everything you need to know.

For obvious reasons, Tangerine is one of the best providers of competitive mortgages in Canada.

As such, a lot of Canadians like you are wondering whether Tangerine offers mortgage preapproval like other lenders.

And if there’s no Tangerine mortgage pre-approval, what are the alternatives?

This article covers everything you need to know to make an informed mortgage-buying definition.

Is There Tangerine Mortgage Preapproval?

Tangerine doesn’t offer mortgage preapproval. What this means is that you can’t get pre-approved for a Tangerine mortgage of your choice.

This is not a big deal as having a mortgage preapproval doesn’t guarantee the best mortgage experience. 

But since pre-approval gives you a sense of the mortgage costs and terms, you may find the absence of Tangerine mortgage preapproval worrisome.

As an alternative, you can get mortgage preapprovals from other lenders and compare them with the terms. 

To get more relevant and customized information on Tangerine mortgage, you may need to initiate an application and provide details about your situation and desired mortgage.

By so doing, you will get the actual cost (not an estimate) of taking a Tangerine mortgage. This process is more reliable than taking mortgage preapproval which provides an estimate that’s not guaranteed.

That being said, Tangerine allows you to lock a mortgage rate for a given period through the mortgage rate hold feature.

A mortgage rate hold is one feature of mortgage preapproval that allows you to lock a mortgage rate for a given timeframe usually up to 130 days.

Keep reading to learn more about the mortgage rate hold. 

About Tangerine Mortgage Rate Hold

As noted earlier, Tangerine currently offers mortgage rate hold in place of mortgage preapproval. 

With the mortgage rate hold, you can secure a mortgage rate for up to 120 days as you could under a mortgage preapproval.

You can lock either the Tangerine fixed mortgage rate or the 5-year variable mortgage rate for up to 120 days.

As expected, a fixed mortgage rate will remain unchanged throughout the rate hold duration. On the other hand, a locked variable mortgage rate will change when the Tangerine prime rate changes.

The main drawback is that a mortgage rate hold only allows you to secure a mortgage rate. Unlike mortgage preapproval, a mortgage rate hold doesn’t provide you with a comprehensive estimate and terms of your preferred mortgage.

Notwithstanding, if you’re mainly looking for a mortgage preapproval from Tangerine for the sake of holding a competitive rate, then the Tangerine mortgage rate hold could be sufficient for you. 

Besides, a Tangerine mortgage rate hold doesn’t involve a hard credit check, unlike a mortgage preapproval. 

In addition, you don’t have to provide financial information to lock a mortgage rate through the Tangerine mortgage rate hold feature. 

So whether you’re an existing Tangerine client or not, you can request for the mortgage rate to be held through your Tangerine account dashboard. If you don’t have a Tangerine account, you can create one within a few minutes.

Overall, getting a Tangerine mortgage rate hold is more flexible and easier compared to applying for traditional mortgage preapproval.

3 Benefits of Tangerine Mortgage

Why should you bother about locking a Tangerine mortgage rate or getting preapproved? Tangerine mortgages are so attractive in many aspects.

Below are the three main benefits of applying for a Tangerine mortgage.

1. Competitive Mortgage Rates

As noted earlier, Tangerine is popular for offering competitive mortgage rates in the online banking industry.

Although the current rates are among the average (due to the consistent increase of the Bank of Canada rate last year), Tangerine still distinguishes itself among many mortgage providers in Canada.

Let’s have a glance at the current Tangerine mortgage rates.

Of course, there are better rates out there as offered by Butler, Pane, and Nesto. 

But you should always look beyond the mortgage rate when comparing mortgage lenders. Most importantly, you should consider the mortgage APR and terms before finalizing.

When you put everything into consideration, Tangerine may still appear to be one of the top options.

READ ALSO: PC Financial Mortgage Rates Review 

2. Flexible Payments

Tangerine has flexible payment options that make it easier to pay your debt. The digital bank allows you to pay your mortgage on a monthly, semi-monthly, weekly, or biweekly basis.

If you want to pay off your mortgage faster, you can do so through accelerated weekly and bi-weekly payments.

In addition, you can pay an additional 25% of your annual mortgage amount or increase your annual regular mortgage payment by 25% without any penalty.

All this helps you clear off your debt faster and save costs from regular interest and fee payments.

3. Mortgage Account Manager 

Finally, Tangerine has dedicated mortgage account managers that are assigned to each client.

The main role of the mortgage account managers is to help clients navigate the mortgage application process, renewal, and refinancing process with ease.

With this, you can be confident in making informed mortgage buying decisions with a mortgage expert on your side. 

This automatically eliminates the potential stress that comes with mortgage buying for newbies.

More About Tangerine

• Tangerine e-Transfer Limit and How it Compares
• Tangerine Promotions Review 
• Tangerine Credit Card Promotions Review
• Tangerine High-Interest Savings Account Review 
• EQ Bank vs Tangerine: Which Bank is Better?
• How to Close a Tangerine Bank Account

Alternative For Tangerine Mortgage Preapproval 

From the beginning of this article, I explained that getting a mortgage preapproval doesn’t equate to getting the best mortgage experience.

As such, the fact that there’s no Tangerine mortgage preapproval doesn’t mean you can’t get the best experience from Tangerine.

Besides, several of the mortgage lenders that offer mortgage preapproval are not included among the best mortgage rates providers in Canada.

Notwithstanding, there are many competitive mortgage lenders that offer mortgage preapproval. This includes:

• Butler mortgage preapproval  (120 days rate guarantee)
• BMO mortgage preapproval (130 days rate guarantee)
• TD mortgage preapproval (120 days rate guarantee)

As you can see, these lenders have varying mortgage guarantee periods. You should also expect differences in their mortgage rates, fees, and terms.

To understand how Tangerine compares, you should apply my earlier recommendation on initiating a mortgage application process with the lender while applying for mortgage preapproval elsewhere.

You may want to also apply for a Tangerine mortgage rate hold while gathering customized details.

To have a better sense of how Tangerine mortgage compares, you should consider the following factors:

• Mortgage rates
• APR
• Terms and conditions 
• Application process 

Understanding a Mortgage Preapproval

By definition, mortgage preapproval refers to a customized estimate of a mortgage a person is eligible for. This includes the mortgage price, rates, APR, and terms. 

A mortgage preapproval is usually presented by a lender through a document, letter, or certificate to the applicant. 

While mortgage preapproval requirements may vary from one lender to the other, the following are the common requirements:

• Personal information 
• Financial information (such as income and assets)
• Tax returns
• Credit history (hard check)

As noted earlier, mortgage preapproval comes with a mortgage rate guarantee usually between 60 to 130 days. 

By getting a mortgage preapproval, you get a clear picture of what it will cost you to apply for a mortgage with a given lender.

There’s no limit to the number of mortgage preapprovals you can apply for. This gives you the opportunity to get mortgage preapproval from different lenders.

However, lenders usually run a hard credit check when assessing your credit history. So applying for multiple preapprovals within a short period can hurt your credit score.

Besides, a mortgage preapproval doesn’t guarantee the real mortgage cost. And a lender may decide not to approve your mortgage despite getting preapproval due to sudden changes.

READ ALSO: 

• RBC Mortgage Promotions Review 
• CIBC Mortgage Cash Back Review 
• Best Mortgage Cash Back Offers And Bonuses in Canada 

Advantages of Mortgage Preapproval 

In summary, the following are the advantages of mortgage preapproval:

• Customized estimate: A mortgage preapproval removes guesswork out of the way of your mortgage-buying journey and helps you focus on what matters.
• Rate guarantee: When you get a mortgage preapproval, you’re guaranteed a mortgage rate for up to 130 days depending on the lender. This saves you from dramatic interest fluctuations.
• Eases comparison: By getting preapproval from different lenders, you can easily compare different mortgage terms and choose the perfect one for your situation.
• Fast mortgage application: When you get mortgage preapproval, you’ve already provided sufficient information to the mortgage lender, making it easier to process your mortgage application faster.

Disadvantages of Mortgage Preapproval 

On the hand, the following are the disadvantages of mortgage preapproval you need to consider before applying for one:

• No guarantee: When you get a mortgage preapproval. you’re not guaranteed the estimated mortgage price, rate, APR, and terms. Moreso, a mortgage preapproval doesn’t guarantee mortgage approval. In the end, the whole thing could be a waste of time and effort.
• Hard credit check: Credit history is one of the requirements for getting a mortgage preapproval. To access your credit history, lenders usually pull out your information from credit bureaus through a hard check. Unlike a soft check, a hard credit check can affect your credit score negatively for up to 36 months.