First-Time Home Buyer Checklist: 9 Steps Before You Shop
Get these in order and you will skip the most expensive mistakes.
Buying a first home is the largest financial transaction most people will ever do. Get these nine steps in order before you start touring and you will avoid the most expensive mistakes.
1. Check your credit
Pull your free credit reports at annualcreditreport.com from all three bureaus. Dispute any errors. Your credit score determines your mortgage rate, and on a 30-year loan a single point of interest can be $50,000+ over the life of the loan.
2. Calculate what you can actually afford
Bankers will preapprove you for more than you should spend. A safer rule: total housing cost (mortgage, property tax, insurance, HOA) should be 28% or less of your gross monthly income. Use our mortgage calculator to run scenarios with realistic taxes and insurance.
3. Build a down payment plus closing costs
You can buy with as little as 3% down on a conventional loan or 3.5% down with FHA. But you will also need 2-5% of the loan amount for closing costs, plus several months of cash reserves. A $250,000 home with 5% down realistically needs $20,000-$25,000 in cash at closing.
4. Get preapproved (not just prequalified)
Preapproval is a lender actually pulling your credit and verifying income. Prequalification is the lender taking your word for it. Sellers in competitive markets ignore prequalification letters.
5. Shop multiple lenders
Get at least three preapprovals - one from a big bank, one from a mortgage broker, one from an online lender. The difference between the best and worst quote will routinely be 0.25-0.5% in rate, which is tens of thousands of dollars on a 30-year loan.
Rate-shopping window
Multiple mortgage credit checks within a 14-45 day window count as a single inquiry on your credit report. Shop hard in a short window and your score will not be hurt.
6. Hire a buyer's agent (the seller usually pays)
Real estate agents are paid by the seller out of the sale price. As a buyer, you get representation effectively free. Find one with recent buyer experience in your specific neighborhood.
7. Make a list of must-haves vs nice-to-haves
Bedrooms, commute time, school district - decide before you tour. Otherwise you will fall in love with a house in the wrong school district and rationalize it.
8. Get a real inspection
A $400-$600 home inspection has saved more buyers from disasters than any other line item in the buying process. Skip nothing - structure, roof, HVAC, electrical, plumbing.
9. Read every document at closing
Closing paperwork is thick and intimidating. Slow down and read the closing disclosure (CD) before signing. Confirm rate, term, and closing costs match what the lender quoted. Mistakes at this step are real and expensive.
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