On the shortest scale, a pre approval can be turned around in a week.
A full mortgage approval, assuming there is a property secured in as low as 3 weeks.

There are 2 main variables though.

  1.  Speed of supplying supporting documents for the lender.
  2. Lender lead times, which vary based on time of year, and demand for the lender, typically the more competitive the lender’s rate and offer, the longer their lead time.

The steps

  1. Broker/Client scenario objective discussion.
  2. Broker provides Preliminary assessment outlining scenario and potential products.
  3. Clients provide statements confirming: deposit/purchase, savings, income and any other liabilities, id’s, work and address history.
  4. Broker will provide a Summary of requirements, to be followed by the actual loan application for client signatures.
  1. Loan application to lender.
  2. Lender lead time to pick up.
  3. Document & financial assessment.
  4. Unconditional or conditional approval, conditional requiring further information.
  5. Loan contract generation.

Why do mortgage applications take so long?