The fairway advantage®

Pre-Approval program

Get conditionally approved before you make an offer, and compete with cash buyers in Sioux Falls. The Fairway Advantage® Pre-Approval is a full underwriting review completed before you even start your home search, giving your offer the strength of a near-cash commitment.

Get Pre-Approved
Request More Info

What Is the Fairway Advantage® Pre-Approval?

Most mortgage pre-approvals are actually a pre-qualification. A quick review of your stated income and credit score that gives you a rough number. They’re common, fast, and largely meaningless to a seller who’s received five offers.

The Fairway Advantage® Pre-Approval is different. It’s a full underwriting review of your income assets, employment, and credit, completed before you’ve found a home. When you make an offer you submit a conditional approval letter from a Fairway underwriter, not just a loan officer estimate.

For sellers and their agents in Sioux Falls, that letter signals one thing clearly: this buyer is ready to close.

Standard pre-qualification vs. fairway advantage® pre-approval

Standard Pre-Qualification

  • Based on state income - not verified

  • Reviewed by a loan officer only

  • Gives you a rough loan estimate

  • Treated like a formality by sellers

  • More to do once you go under contract

  • No additional cost, but a weaker signal

Fairway Advantage® Pre-Approval

  • Based on fully verified income, assets, and employment

  • Reviewed & conditionally approved by a Fairway underwriter

  • Gives you a conditional approval letter from underwriting

  • Treated like a near-cash offer by sellers and listing agents

  • Less to do after your offer is accepted

  • No additional cost, and a much stronger signal to sellers

What the Fairway Advantage ® pre-approval does for you

Know exactly what you can afford - before you start shopping.

The Fairway Advantage review gives you a real number based on your actual financials, not an estimate. You'll know your exact price range, monthly payment range, and which loan programs you qualify for before you ever walk through a door.

Make offers with the confidence of a cash buyer.

In the Sioux Falls market, where well-priced homes in Harrisburg, Tea, and established neighborhoods move fast, your conditional approval letter tells sellers your financing is solid — not a guess, but a commitment backed by a full underwriting review.

Less to do after your offer is accepted.

Because the heavy underwriting lift is done before you make an offer, the period between acceptance and closing is smoother and faster. Your file is already reviewed — we're just waiting on the property appraisal and final conditions.

No additional cost. No strings attached.

The Fairway Advantage® Pre-Approval is available to all Fairway Heartland clients at no extra charge. There's no fee to get underwriter-reviewed before your home search. It's simply a stronger starting position — at zero additional cost to you.

How the Fairway Advantage® process works

Start your application online. 

Begin your Fairway Advantage® Pre-Approval by completing your application through our secure online portal. You'll provide your income, employment history, assets, and consent to a credit check.

Submit your documents. 

We'll request supporting documents, pay stubs, W-2s, bank statements, and tax returns through our secure document portal. The faster you get these to us, the faster the review moves.

Fairway underwrites your file. 

Unlike a standard pre-approval, your file goes to a Fairway underwriter for a full review before you’ve identified a property. This is the step that makes the Fairway Advantage® different.

Receive your conditional approval letter.

Once underwriting is satisfied, you’ll receive a conditional approval letter. When you make an offer, you submit this letter alongside your property-specific pre-approval, giving sellers the strongest possible signal that you’ll close.

Find your home and make your offer with confidence. 

Shop with your loan officer on standby. When you’re ready to offer, we issue a property-specific letter within hours, and your underwriting approval is already in hand.

Is the Fairway advantage® Pre-Approval Right for You?

The Fairway Advantage® Pre-Approval is a smart move for almost any buyer, but it’s especially valuable if any of the following apply to you:

  • You’re buying in a competitive market where homes receive multiple offers quickly

  • You’re a first-time homebuyer who wants to shop with total confidence in your budget

  • You’re relocating to Sioux Falls and need to move fast once you find the right home

  • You’ve lost out on offers before and want to come in stronger this time

  • You want to minimize the time between offer acceptance and closing

There’s no downside, it’s free, it makes your offer stronger, and it starts the underwriting clock earlier, so your closing timeline is shorter.

Ready to get your fairway advantage® pre-approval?

Start your application online or call our Sioux Falls team at (605) 906-1020

Monday-Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Saturday by appointment only.

The Heartland Branch of Fairway Home Mortgage, located in Sioux Falls and Brookings, SD, is the right time for you to buy, we’ve got the right solution for you.

Get pre-approved
Request More Info