Buying Your First House Checklist Today

The seller countered. Maya stayed calm, checked her budget one last time, and met them in the middle. Chapter 5: The Deep Dive (Due Diligence)

She didn't trust the online calculators. She sat down and figured out a mortgage payment that wouldn't leave her "house poor," making sure she still had money for groceries and, occasionally, a nice bottle of wine. Chapter 2: The Gatekeepers (Pre-Approval) Before Maya even looked at a porch, she called a lender. buying your first house checklist

Maya walked through the house with a pro who pointed out a fussy water heater and a drafty window. She used this to ask for a small credit at closing. The seller countered

The "Under Contract" sign went up, but the work wasn't over. She sat down and figured out a mortgage

The rain drummed a steady rhythm against the window of Maya’s cramped, third-floor walk-up—the kind of apartment where the radiator clanked like a ghost in the walls. She clicked "Save" on her spreadsheet, her eyes blurring from hours of scrolling through Zillow.

The closing day was a blur of ink and heavy folders. Maya signed her name more times than she ever had in her life.

Two bedrooms (one for an office), a sturdy roof, and a kitchen that didn't look like a 1970s time capsule.