What you need: 

• A realtor to help with the legalities when buying a house.

• A down payment: The cash that the buyer pays upfront and it is usually a percentage of the purchase price ranging from 3-20%. A larger percentage paid means a smaller loan is needed.

• A loan called a mortgage: Apply for preapproval at your preferred financial institution so that you can begin house hunting then you can find a property that you like and make an offer. More information on the mortgage process can be found here.

• To negotiate how long you will have to pay off the loan.

  • Longer loans cost less monthly but with more interest. 

  • Usually your credit will determine the interest rate.

  • A common mortgage pay timeline is 30 years.

  • A shorter loan is more monthly but less interest.

• Homeowners Insurance: go online to your preferred insurance institution and the website will tell you what to do.

How to:

• Save a lot of money (generally 3-20% of the average home cost in the region). It is helpful to save money for a house in a savings account separate from your regular one so you can make deposits and not consider making withdrawals.

• Get a realtor to help you with the legalities of buying a house (look them up)

• Get pre-approved for a mortgage.

• Go to an open house or look for listings online.

• Contact the seller’s contracting agent to put in an offer (decided by how much you can afford to pay, with or without a loan)

• Hope that they accept your offer or send you a counteroffer.

• if it’s accepted then you go through escrow: The time in the transition of the property's ownership, then move in

• If your offer is denied then you restart from the searching step of the process

Stuff to know:

• Make sure it is in a good location in relation to jobs, school, healthcare, public transportation, and shopping.

• The amenities that are included in the purchase (washer/dryer, kitchen, pool, parks)

• A home is much more expensive than one expects. Find the average housing cost for where you want to live at Zillow.com.

Homeowners Insurance: Provides coverage to repair or rebuild your home after events like fire, smoke, theft, vandalism, and damage caused by weather. Most policies also cover furniture, clothing and other possessions.