BuyingApril 12, 2026· 2 min
How much house can you actually afford?
Affordability is not what an online calculator tells you. It is what your monthly cash flow can absorb without breaking the rest of your life.
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Buy a Home
First-time buyer? Start here.
The short version
- Spend 90 days prepping: credit clean-up, documentation, real budget, before you tour anything.
- Conventional minimums start around 620; FHA at 580; VA and USDA have no hard floor.
- Down payments can be as low as 3% conventional, 3.5% FHA, or 0% for VA and USDA.
- Get a pre-approval (not a pre-qualification) before writing offers, sellers can tell the difference.
- From accepted offer to keys is typically 30 to 45 days.
- During the loan process, do not change jobs, open new credit, or move large sums of money.
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What to do in the 90 days before you shop
Pull your credit reports and dispute anything wrong. Pay down revolving balances so each card sits below 30 percent of its limit, ideally below 10. Do not open new credit. Do not close old accounts. Gather two months of bank statements, your most recent pay stubs, and the last two years of tax returns.
Then sit down with your gross monthly income and write a real budget that includes savings, childcare, transportation, and everything else you spend money on. The number that is left over after the essentials, not the lender ceiling, is your real housing budget.
How qualifying actually works
Lenders look at four things in roughly equal weight: credit, income, assets, and debts. Most first-time buyers can qualify for conventional financing with a 620 score, FHA at 580, and VA or USDA with no hard minimum but most lenders use 580 to 620 in practice. The score is one input. The full picture matters more.
A pre-qualification is a soft conversation. A pre-approval is a documented review of your file. In a competitive offer, only the second one is credible.
What the process looks like
Get pre-approved, then shop with an agent who knows your area. When you find the right home, write a prepared offer. Once it is accepted, you will move through inspection, appraisal, and final underwriting before closing. From accepted offer to keys in hand is typically 30 to 45 days.
During that window, do not change jobs, do not open new credit, and do not move large sums of money around. Anything that changes the picture lenders already approved can slow or derail closing.
Frequently asked questions
What credit score do first-time buyers need?
Most first-time buyers can qualify for conventional financing at a 620 score, FHA at 580, and VA or USDA with no hard floor (most lenders use 580 to 620 in practice). The score is one input, your full file matters more.
How much down payment do I need as a first-time buyer?
FHA loans allow 3.5% down, conventional first-time buyer programs go as low as 3%, and VA or USDA can be 0% down for eligible borrowers. A larger down payment lowers your monthly payment and may eliminate mortgage insurance.
What is the difference between pre-qualification and pre-approval?
A pre-qualification is a soft conversation about what you might qualify for. A pre-approval is a documented review of your credit, income, and assets. In a competitive offer, only the pre-approval is credible to a seller.
How long does the home-buying process take?
From accepted offer to keys in hand is typically 30 to 45 days for most loan programs. Add 1 to 3 months of preparation and shopping before that for a realistic total timeline.
What should I avoid doing during the loan process?
Do not change jobs, do not open new credit accounts, do not close old ones, and do not move large sums of money in or out of your accounts without telling your loan officer. Anything that changes the picture lenders already approved can slow or derail closing.
How much house can I actually afford?
Lenders qualify you on debt-to-income ratios, but the lender ceiling is almost always higher than what you should actually spend. A safer rule is to keep total housing costs to about 25–30% of your gross monthly income, with room left for savings and the rest of your life.
What closing costs should I expect?
Closing costs typically run 2% to 5% of the purchase price, covering lender fees, title insurance, escrows for taxes and insurance, and a few smaller line items. Some can be negotiated with the seller as a credit toward closing.
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