Buying a first house runs in a fixed order: work out what you can carry each month, get pre-approved, check what assistance your state and county offer, then shop, offer and inspect. The typical first-time buyer puts about 10% down, not 20%, and an FHA loan allows as little as 3.5%. The deposit is usually what decides the timeline.[S1]
Buying your first house feels overwhelming mostly because nobody hands you the order to do things in. So here it is, in sequence, with the step that is easiest to skip sitting third.
The order to do it in
| Step | What you do | Why it sits here |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Two numbers | Work out what a lender will approve and what you can carry monthly without strain | They are rarely the same. The gap between them is where people overcommit |
| 2. Pre-approval | Get pre-approved so you shop against a figure rather than a hope | Offers without it get taken less seriously, and you waste time on the wrong listings |
| 3. Assistance | Check state, county and city down payment programs before assuming you need 20% | The most skipped step, and usually the one that moves your start date |
| 4. Shop and offer | Make offers with a clear head about the numbers you set in step one | The approval figure will tempt you upward. Step one is the defence against that |
| 5. Inspect | Pay for the inspection before the money is at risk | The cheapest point at which you can still walk away |
The two numbers that matter
A lender approves you against ratios. You live against a budget. Those produce different figures, and the approval is almost always the larger one. Decide your monthly ceiling first, write it down, and treat the approval as a limit you do not intend to reach.
Check assistance before you assume 20%
The 20% figure is what lets you avoid mortgage insurance on a conventional loan. It is not a minimum. An FHA loan, from the Federal Housing Administration, allows 3.5% down, and down payment assistance from a state or local agency can cover part or all of that. Help with closing costs is one of the better deals in housing and it is rarely advertised.
| Down payment route | Percent down | Cash on a $200,000 house |
|---|---|---|
| FHA minimum | 3.5% | About $7,000 |
| Conventional, no mortgage insurance | 20% | $40,000 |
I used a county program on my first house, a $185,000 starter home. Without it I would not have had the deposit. The down payment assistance guide covers what these programs look like across 83 metro areas.
Your first house does not have to be a pure expense
If you buy a two-to-four-unit building and live in one unit, the same first-time buyer loan applies, and the rent from the other units lands against your payment every month. That is house hacking, and it is worth knowing about before you commit to a single-family house, because the FHA minimum of 3.5% is the same on a two-to-four-unit home you live in (a conventional loan needs at least 5% down on one).
Work out where you are: the readiness roadmap puts these steps in order against your own figures, and the rent versus buy calculator tests the monthly side.
Questions first-time buyers ask
How much do you need to buy your first house?
The cash you need is the deposit plus closing costs. On a $200,000 house that is about $7,000 at the FHA minimum of 3.5%, or $40,000 at 20%, with closing costs on top of either. Assistance programs can cover part or all of the deposit, which is why checking them comes before deciding what you can afford.
What credit score do you need to buy a house?
Score requirements are set by the loan program rather than by a universal rule, and FHA loans are designed to accept lower scores than conventional ones. The score affects your rate as well as your approval, so it is worth improving before you apply rather than after.
How long does buying a first house take?
The shopping and closing part usually runs a couple of months. The stretch that takes actual time is step three, saving or sourcing the deposit, and that is the one worth attacking first.
This post is part of the full first-move on-ramp. If you are weighing whether this is the year, see buying a house in 2026.
Before you tour anything, pin down the price range you can carry.
How Much House Can You Afford. Enter your income, debts and down payment and it returns a range plus the monthly payment behind it. Every other step in this guide gets easier once that number is set.
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Sources
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, What is the minimum down payment requirement for FHA?. The 3.5% figure straight from the agency, and the property types it applies to.
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Let FHA Loans Help You. What an FHA loan is and what it is for, in the words of the Federal Housing Administration itself.
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, State Information. Where to find the state, county and city assistance programs that step three tells you to check.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, What is private mortgage insurance?. Why 20% is the mortgage insurance threshold on a conventional loan rather than a minimum you have to reach to buy.
- [S1] National Association of Realtors, 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers (released 4 November 2025), checked September 2026: the typical first-time buyer put 10% down. www.nar.realtor.