Your first home should not be your first expensive lesson.
A plain-English roadmap for financing, touring, offers, inspections, insurance and closing.
1
Prepare
Review credit, cash, monthly comfort and lender options before shopping.
2
Shop
Compare total ownership cost, not just purchase price.
3
Protect
Use inspections, contract deadlines and due diligence carefully.
The basic timeline
- Set a monthly payment target.
- Get fully pre-approved and compare Loan Estimates.
- Choose areas based on real-life needs.
- Tour homes and evaluate condition, insurance and resale factors.
- Write an offer with deliberate price, deposit, inspection and closing terms.
- Deposit the binder on time.
- Complete inspections, WDO when required, insurance quotes and lender conditions.
- Review the appraisal, title work, Closing Disclosure and final cash-to-close.
- Perform the final walk-through and close.