Do I Need To Be Pre-Approved For a Mortgage Before Placing a Bid On a House?

When is the right time to get pre-approved for a mortgage? Well, who better to ask than Bravo's "Million Dollar Listing" star and author of Sell it Like Serhant, Ryan Serhant?

Q: "Do I need to be pre-approved for a mortgage before placing a bid on a house?"

— Anita, viewer

A: "Okay, so this is a huge one," Ryan says. "I'm a real estate broker, I work with a lot of people looking to buy homes, and they always do this later which is so frustrating because it's like going to a mall without your credit card."

Ryan says that while it's fun to shop, you need to know what you can afford. "Whether you can spend maybe more, which is awesome, or less, which is less awesome, at least you can look within your budget or in your means. So if you are being pre-approved for $200,000, that doesn't mean you have to look only up to $200,000 or you can't look at any other range — just know that's your comfortable budget."

Ryan says having a comfortable budget is like wearing sweatpants at dinner. "You want to leave some room."

Now he's speaking our language!