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A loan originator or loan processor working for a mortgage lender or broker can typically pre-qualify you for a home loan within an hour. To get pre-qualified you will need to complete a mortgage application and allow the broker or lender to pull your credit. They will review the mortgage application and your credit and let your know if you are pre-qualified.

Only a mortgage underwriter can pre-approve you for a home loan, loan originators and processors can't. If an underwriter pre-approves your home loan application upfront, all you have to do is find the home you want, have it appraised, and then you should be able to close in just a few days. Some mortgage brokers and lenders will issue pre-approvals that have not been reviewed by an authorized underwriter, be sure to ask.

National vacancy rates in the fourth quarter 2012 were 8.7 percent for rental housing and 1.9 percent for homeowner housing, the Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau announced today. The rental vacancy rate of 8.7 percent was 0.7 percentage points lower than the rate in the fourth quarter 2011 (+/-0.4 percentage points) and 0.1 percentage point higher than the rate last quarter (+/-0.4)*. The homeowner vacancy rate of 1.9 percent was 0.4 percentage points lower than the fourth quarter 2011 rate (+/-0.2) and approximately the same (+/-0.1)* as the rate last quarter.

The homeownership rate of 65.4 percent was 0.6 percentage points (+/-0.4) lower than the fourth quarter 2011 rate (66.0 percent) and 0.1 percentage point (+/-0.4)* lower than the rate last quarter (65.5 percent).

  http://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/files/qtr312/q312press.pdf