First-Time Home Buyer Checklist

1. Before searching

• Review your credit reports and correct any errors you find.
• Understand your current monthly obligations in writing, not from memory.
• Learn what documentation lenders typically request so you can gather it early.
• Read up on the loan types available to you and what each requires.
• Talk to more than one lender before assuming any single set of terms.
• Set a rough timeline, including any lease end date or move constraint.

2. Define priorities

Written priorities are what keep a good tour from turning into a bad decision. Split them into must-haves that would disqualify a home, and nice-to-haves that can be traded.

• List your must-haves: bedrooms, commute limit, accessibility needs, outdoor space.
• List nice-to-haves separately, in rough order.
• Note what you are unwilling to take on: major renovation, long commute, stairs.
• Agree the list with anyone buying with you before touring, not during.
• Revisit the list after your first three showings — reality reshapes it.

3. Understand your budget

The number a lender approves and the number you are comfortable paying every month are different numbers. Work out the second one yourself.

• Separate upfront cash needs from recurring monthly costs.
• Include property taxes, insurance, HOA where applicable, and utilities in your monthly view.
• Set aside a reserve for maintenance and unexpected repairs.
• Ask each lender for a Loan Estimate so you can compare terms on the same form.
• Know which of your inputs are confirmed and which are still estimates.

4. Start viewing homes

• Tour homes across your range, including one above and one below, to calibrate.
• Use the same checklist at every showing so homes stay comparable.
• Visit serious contenders at a second time of day.
• Walk the neighborhood, not just the house.
• Do not tour more than three or four homes in one day; recall collapses after that.

5. Document each showing

Undocumented tours are effectively wasted. See our house showing checklist for what to capture in the moment.

• Photos in a consistent order, plus close-ups of anything concerning.
• Your observations, written the same day.
• Every figure you were told, with who told you.
• Open questions and who needs to answer them.
• A quick score against your must-haves.

6. Compare properties

• Compare on the same criteria for every home, not on whichever feature you remember.
• Put price, condition, location and estimated monthly cost side by side.
• Note which fields are unknown rather than filling them with a guess.
• Check each home against your must-haves before your preferences.
• Re-rank after each new showing.

7. Investigate important claims

• Write down every claim that would change your decision if it were wrong.
• Ask for documentation: permits, receipts, service records, warranties.
• Confirm HOA details and fees from the association's own documents where applicable.
• Confirm tax figures with the relevant local authority rather than the listing.
• Track which claims are confirmed, which are pending, and which were never answered.

8. Understand recurring ownership costs

Ownership costs continue after closing, and they vary by property. Our guide to the true monthly cost of owning a home breaks the categories down.

• Estimate each recurring category separately rather than as one lump sum.
• Use property-specific figures where you have them.
• Mark unknowns as unknown so your total is not quietly wrong.
• Compare the monthly picture across homes, not just the asking price.
• Plan for maintenance and for repairs you can already anticipate.

9. Prepare questions

• Keep separate question lists for your agent, lender, inspector and the seller's side.
• Add questions as they arise rather than reconstructing them later.
• Prioritize questions whose answers could end your interest in the home.
• Ask for answers in writing when they concern money, condition or what conveys.

10. Before making an offer

• Re-read the disclosures the seller has provided.
• Review your open-questions list and decide which must be closed first.
• Understand the contingencies available to you and discuss them with your agent.
• Confirm your financing status and timeline with your lender.
• Know your walk-away point before negotiating, and write it down.

11. Inspection and professional due diligence

• Hire your own licensed inspector and attend the inspection if you can.
• Give the inspector your list of observations and concerns beforehand.
• Consider specialist evaluations where the general inspection flags something.
• Read the full report, not just the summary.
• Sort findings into safety, structural, costly, and cosmetic before deciding what to raise.

12. Keep important information organized

• One place per home for notes, figures, documents and open items.
• Keep claims and confirmed facts visually distinct.
• Keep a running list of who told you what, and when.
• Retain everything through closing — you will be asked for it.
• Carry the useful parts into your first months of ownership.