Buying your first home
Most people arrive at this with the same three worries: that their credit is not good enough, that they have not saved enough, and that asking will start something they cannot stop. This page is about those, rather than about the paperwork.
For the order things happen in, read what happens, start to finish.
The only way to find out is to ask
Nobody can tell you from the outside whether you can buy. Not a calculator, not a friend who bought in a different year, and not an article — including this one. It depends on your income, what you owe, what you have saved, and which programs you are eligible for.
What is worth knowing is that finding out costs nothing and commits you to nothing. A conversation is not an application. An answer of “not yet, and here is what would change that” is a genuinely useful outcome, and it is a common one.
What the cash actually consists of
“How much do I need?” is really four questions wearing one coat. Splitting them apart makes the number far less frightening, and usually smaller than people expect.
- Down payment
- The part of the price you pay yourself. How much depends entirely on the program — several ask for far less than the twenty percent people assume, and some ask for none at all from buyers who qualify.
- Closing costs
- Separate from the down payment, and the item most first-time buyers forget to plan for. Lender fees, title and escrow charges, recording fees, and prepaid property taxes and insurance.
- Earnest money
- A deposit that goes in with your offer to show you are serious. It is normally credited back toward what you owe at closing rather than being an extra cost.
- What you keep
- Money that stays in your account after closing. Some programs look at it; more importantly, moving into a home you cannot afford to furnish or repair is its own kind of stress.
What each program asks for is set out on the loan program pages.
What actually moves what you can afford
Five things, roughly in the order they matter. Only some of them are within your control in the short term, which is useful to know before you spend energy on the wrong one.
Your income, and how steady it looks on paper
Not just the number. Lenders look at whether it is consistent and documented, which is why self-employed buyers are asked for different paperwork rather than being turned away.
What you already owe each month
Car payments, student loans, credit cards. This is often the single biggest lever a first-time buyer actually controls in the months before buying.
Your credit
It affects which programs are open to you and what they cost. It is one input among several, not a pass or fail.
How much you put down
It changes the loan size, and on many programs it changes whether mortgage insurance applies.
Taxes and insurance
Part of most monthly payments and easy to forget when you are doing sums in your head. They vary by property, not just by price.
The parts that surprise people
- The monthly payment is not just the loan. Property taxes and insurance are usually collected with it, and on many programs mortgage insurance is too.
- Pre-approval is not a commitment to buy. It is a lender saying what they are prepared to lend, based on documents they have verified.
- Your finances need to stay still between pre-approval and closing. A new car, a new credit card, or a job change mid-process can undo work already done.
- Being asked for more documents in underwriting is normal. It is not a signal that something has gone wrong.
- Not owning for the last three years is enough to count as a first-time buyer under many programs, even if you have owned before.
You are allowed to ask before you are ready.
Six short questions, no credit check, and no obligation. Drake will tell you where you actually stand — including if the honest answer is not yet.
General information about how the process usually works, written to be understood rather than to be exhaustive. It is not advice about your situation, not a commitment to lend, and not an offer of credit. Programs, requirements, and costs vary and change — the only way to know what applies to you is to ask.