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- Credible makes getting a mortgage easy. It only takes 3 minutes to see if you qualify for an instant streamlined pre-approval letter.
- Get prequalified in just 3 minutes without impacting your credit score.
- Compare rates from multiple lenders without your data being sold or getting spammed.
| LENDER | RATING | LEARN MORE | MIN. DOWN PAYMENT | MIN. CREDIT SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Credible | 5.0 | See Offers | Varies | Varies |
| New American Funding | 4.7 | See Offers | 3% | 580 |
| NBKC Bank | 4.7 | See Offers | 3% | 620 |
| Rocket Mortgage | 4.6 | See Offers | 1% | Not disclosed |
| Farmers Bank of Kansas City | 4.7 | See Offers | 3% | 620 |
| Veterans United Home Loans | 4.4 | See Offers | 0% for VA loan | 620 |
| PenFed Credit Union | 4.6 | See Offers | 0% for VA loan | 620 |
| PNC Bank | 4.7 | See Offers | 3% | 620 |
| Chase | 4.2 | See Offers | 3% | Not disclosed |
| U.S. Bank Mortgage | 4.6 | See Offers | 0% for VA loan | Not disclosed |
| Navy Federal Credit Union | 4.6 | See Offers | 0% for VA loan | Not disclosed |
- Credible makes getting a mortgage easy. It only takes 3 minutes to see if you qualify for an instant streamlined pre-approval letter.
- Get prequalified in just 3 minutes without impacting your credit score.
- Compare rates from multiple lenders without your data being sold or getting spammed.
When you want to buy a house or refinance your mortgage, it's a huge deal, so it's wise to find the best mortgage lender to help you do that. We recommend shopping for offers from at least three different lenders to find the best rate.
You can compare mortgage rates and other loan terms (fees, time to close, customer service offerings) and choose the best fit for you. Taking the time to do your research can really pay off big, I'm talking about thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.
- Credible makes getting a mortgage easy. It only takes 3 minutes to see if you qualify for an instant streamlined pre-approval letter.
- Get prequalified in just 3 minutes without impacting your credit score.
- Compare rates from multiple lenders without your data being sold or getting spammed.
How to Budget for a New House
Wondering how to budget for a house? Here are 4 ways to start your new house budget.
Many buyers, especially first-timers, worry about how to budget to buy a house — and it’s not hard to see why.
Becoming a homeowner is a huge financial commitment, and it only makes sense that you’d want to feel fully prepared before taking the plunge. Luckily, with a little planning and foresight, you can easily make that happen.
Read on below to learn more about how to appropriately budget to make your homebuying dreams become a reality and enter the process with confidence.
Get a pre-approval
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: getting a pre-approval should always be the first step in your home search. Put simply, this document will not only help you clarify the maximum amount of money you have to spend — which is the first step to creating any budget — but it will also help let sellers know you’re a serious buyer.
Start by researching reliable lenders in your area. Then, go into one or two with the appropriate documentation in hand.
You’ll need:
- Two years of W-2’s (Or, high-net tax returns, if you’re self-employed)
- Your most recent pay stub, preferably showing your year-to-date income
- Quarterly statements for your assets like bank accounts and 401Ks
- Debt records for any credit cards or outstanding loans
Once your lender has had a chance to verify these documents, he or she will provide you with your pre-approval, which will show the maximum loan amount you're eligible for. In the event that number isn’t where you’d hoped it would be, he or she may also be able to provide you with advice on how to strengthen your financial situation.
Use a mortgage calculator
Once you know the maximum amount that you’re able to put towards a home, the next step is to figure out how much you’re actually comfortable with spending on a monthly basis. Remember, pre-approvals only take into account your overall debt and assets, not any quality-of-life expenses like food, medical expenses, or entertainment.
To do this, you’ll use a mortgage calculator. They give you the opportunity to see what your monthly mortgage payment will be at various loan amounts and interest rates. After you’ve found a payment where think you’ll be comfortable, go ahead and plug that number into your regular, household budget. Doing so will give you a much clearer picture of how undertaking a mortgage of that size will affect you on a daily basis.
Research prices in your area
Next, it’s important to see how far that money will go in your particular area. For this, we recommend using apps like Open Listings, which lets you create searches and set alerts for available properties in your area that will suit your needs.
Take the loan amount that you’ve decided upon when using the mortgage calculator, and set it as your max sale price. Then, fill in other relevant criteria like your desired location and the total number of bedrooms and bathrooms you’re looking for, plus any other must-have features. From there, you should be able to start looking at properties in your price range.
However, here’s where it’s crucial to be flexible: odds are you won’t find a completely ideal home within your self-imposed budget. So, you’ll need to make some tough decisions. Ask yourself if it's worth raising the budget to find homes that better suit your needs, or should you make some compromises with my search criteria in order to keep it affordable? Then, make adjustments accordingly.
Don't forget supplemental costs
Lastly, keep in mind that your future mortgage payment isn’t the only expense you’ll be budgeting for. As a prospective homebuyer, you’ll be responsible for providing a down payment, paying for your inspections, and covering closing costs, which typically amount to 1-2% of the sale price.
Then, you should also be sure that you’re financially stable enough to handle the costs of homeownership that come after you get the deed, such as utility costs, property taxes, and maintenance and upkeep fees. It may seem overwhelming at first, but home ownership offers many additional financial benefits (and emotional ones, too).
First-Time Home Buying Tips
First-time buyers are still struggling in the United States. In 2021, approximately a third of homes were sold to folks new to the property ladder. Compare that to 50% back in 2010. And if you’re a millennial, things are even tougher. Compared to your generation X counterparts when they were 25-34, you’re 8% less likely to own a home.
Student loans, tight credit, not being able to afford a down payment, and spiraling home prices in certain locations are all seemingly good reasons to stop people from a house purchase. In this guide, however, we’re going to give you some essential tips and tools to help get you on that property ladder, even if you’re not in tip-top financial shape.
Don’t Listen to Cookie-Cutter Advice
We can hear the sighs already. You’ve seen the countless Buzzfeed-style ‘Top 10 Ways to Buy Your First Home’; all talk, no substance. The same advice everywhere, most of which you know already. ‘Save more money to buy a better house’. Um, yeah, thanks, couldn’t have thought of that one.
No, we’re going to approach things a little differently. For example, instead of telling you that your credit needs to be at a certain level, we’re going to tell you how you can make that happen. We also go against the myth of 20% down, giving you the right way of buying a home with a small deposit. You get the idea.
What annoys us is that much of the advice you see out there is a combination of cookie-cutter tips, myths, urban legends, and downright lies. People are either lazy with their research, looking to create a bit of clickbait, or they’re trying to sell you something. Our first tip? If it’s everything you’ve heard before and there’s no data to back it up, don’t listen to it.
Forget the 20% Down Myth
Saving for a down payment is what holds most people back from buying a home. According to a Convergys Analytics report, 49% of people believe that you need a 20% down payment to buy a home. And we’re talking required, rather than ‘you probably should’.
The reality doesn’t quite match the 20% myth, however. This is why we felt we had to put this section near the top of the guide, as many people are probably missing out on a home they may be able to purchase. For example, the median down payment for a home purchase in 2017 was approximately 5%. There are also many government programs specifically designed to encourage first-home buyers (we list some of them in the section below).
Leverage Tools and Resources
Compared to just a decade ago, first-time buyers have at least one major advantage: the internet. Al Gore’s ‘invention’ has opened up a wealth of resources that weren’t available until very recently. Instead of having to gather your advice from friends and realtors, you can now equip yourself with pretty much everything you need to know about buying a house. Leverage the online tools and resources available and you’ll make a smarter financial decision.
Of course, you need to know where to look. We’re making it a little bit easier for you; here are our favorites guides, resources, and tools (we’ve also added a few international ones for those of you not based in the United States):
Government Guide: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has an in-depth impartial resource to guide you through the process. It takes you through a checklist of what you need to do before making an offer, how to get a mortgage, as well as the closing process. HUD.gov also offers a pretty good alternative guide.
Government programs to help you buy a home: The government is aware that there’s a housing crisis for certain groups of the population. According to Urban.org, there are 2,527 programs available nationwide (page 23 on the linked report) to help you get on the property ladder.
Check out USA.gov’s resource, which lists government programs available. We’re talking loans for first-time buyers, help for veterans, and individual state programs. We also recommend hitting “down payment assistance programs + your location/state” on Google to get specific advice for your target market. California, for example, offers the MyHome Assistance Program.
Affordability: Calculating how much you can afford isn’t the simplest, especially if math isn’t your strong point. We like Bankrate's Mortgage Calculator. It has everything you need, no-frills or annoying pop-ups, it just works.
Looking for properties: For the United States, it’s Zillow. Hands down.
‘Shark’ your potential home first: You want to find out everything about your potential new purchase first. PropertyShark is an excellent site that gives you a bunch of info, such as demographics, tax, neighboring houses, and more. Trulia.com provides similar information.
Australia: If you’re looking for a guide in Australia, we recommend looking for that .gov.au domain name. These are government sites, which means the advice will be quite reliable (at least when it comes to the facts). Go for advice that’s specific to your target state. For example, if you’re wanting to buy something in New South Wales, head on over to the state’s Fair Trading website’s mortgage section.
When it comes to tools, commercial websites are a step above anything else we’ve found (caveat emptor, of course). We’re a fan of SmartAsset's calculators and financial tools resource, as it provides more than just a basic borrowing power calculator (though you get that too!). For example, you get Oz-specific tools, such as a stamp duty calculator (it’s basically a government tax).
United Kingdom: When it comes to the United Kingdom, there’s only one king when it comes to financial advice (sorry about the bad pun!): Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert.com. The Mortgages & Homes section of the website is unbeatable.
They’ve put together a first-time buyer’s PDF guide, there’s a basic mortgage calculator, advice on how to boost your chances of getting a mortgage, and much more. Anything we say about the UK is superfluous: head on over there now if you’re from the British Isles.
Potential Roadblock: Your Credit Score
It’s not the down payment that prevents you from buying a house. If anything is going to pose a significant problem, it’s probably your credit score. It’s all about financing and getting the right mortgage; if your credit score isn’t what it should be, even a 20% deposit may not help you.
Let’s do some myth clearing first. It’s not true that you need a credit score over 700 to get yourself a reasonable mortgage deal. It’s also entirely untrue that only people with amazing credit scores can get on the property ladder. And while your credit score is definitely important, your dreams to buy a home won’t necessarily stand or fall on that ‘magic number’. Yes, you need to try and increase it and yes, it’s a significant part of the equation, but don’t give up on owning a home just because of your credit.
Think your score doesn’t adequately reflect your situation? Or perhaps you’ve turned over a new leaf and you want to correct past mistakes? Your credit score takes a couple of things into account: your credit payment history, any outstanding debts, how long you’ve had credit (i.e. been in the system), the types of credit you’ve used in the past (credit cards, personal loans, car, etc.), and how much new credit you’ve taken out. There’s plenty that you can do to rectify the situation.
Here are some tips to boost your credit score as quickly as humanly possible:
- Pay your bills. It’s an obvious one, but it’s absolutely essential that you pay your bills on time. Stick to the deals you’ve made with your chosen companies and you’ll either improve or at the very least maintain your score.
- Credit utilization % should be low. Just because you have a credit card that allows you to spend $10k doesn’t mean you should max it out. Stick to around 30% usage (in this case, $3k) as a general rule and you’ll be fine.
- Piggyback. If you have bad credit, it may be an idea to add yourself as an authorized user on, for example, your partner’s/husband’s/wife’s credit card. This allows you to ‘piggyback’ on that account, enhancing your credit score.
- Use credit-building apps. If you need a quick boost, it would be helpful to use a credit-building app to help identify your problem areas and improve your credit score.
if you're new to credit or don't have any, you can still find ways to establish credit history.
Do Your Own Research
Our final piece of advice is simple: do your own research. We’re confident that we’ve put together a solid guide here, but it’s not the be-all and end-all. We don’t tackle your specific financial or personal situation (obviously, we can’t!), nor can we provide advice for every single location on the planet. And ultimately, a lot of what we’ve said is subjective and a matter of opinion.
We recommend taking the resources and advice we’ve pointed you to and then doing some more leg work. That final call to buy a home is ultimately yours to make.
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- How to Establish Credit in 7 Easy Steps
- Cutting Up Credit Cards: An Empowering Choice For Many
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