Own Luxury Homes®
First-Time Home Buyer Guide: Complete 2026
First-time buyer median down payment: 10% (NAR 2025); minimums 3–3.5%. Cash needed on $400K: $25–45K total (down+closing+reserves). Most expensive mistake: wrong agent, not wrong loan type. Own Luxury Homes® 12-Point Agent Integrity Audit™ — first-time buyer specialists who represent you.
First-Time Home Buyer Guide: Everything Nobody Tells You Before You Sign
Every first-time buyer guide is written by a lender who wants your application, a portal that earns from listings, or a financial site that gets paid when you click "compare rates." None of them can tell you the one thing that matters most: how to find the agent who actually represents you. This guide is written by a brokerage. We don’t earn from your mortgage. We earn when you are well-represented — which means we have every incentive to tell you what lenders can’t.
- What Counts as a First-Time Buyer (The Legal Definition)
- How Much Cash Do You Actually Need to Buy a House?
- Down Payment Options: From 0% to 20% Explained
- First-Time Buyer Programs and Down Payment Assistance
- Pre-Approval vs Pre-Qualification: What Sellers Actually Require
- Credit Score to Buy a House: Requirements by Loan Type
- FHA vs Conventional: Which Is Right for First-Time Buyers?
- How to Choose a Buyer’s Agent as a First-Time Buyer
- Making Your First Offer: What to Expect and How to Win
- The Home Inspection: What First-Time Buyers Must Know
- What Happens at Closing: The Complete Walkthrough
- The 10 Most Expensive First-Time Buyer Mistakes
- The Complete Cost Timeline: When Every Dollar Is Due
Who qualifies as a first-time home buyer?
Legally, three categories qualify: (1) Never owned a primary residence, (2) haven’t owned in the past 3 years (the "3-year rule" that surprises most people), (3) displaced homemaker or single parent who owned only jointly with a spouse. The 3-year rule means millions of people who have previously owned qualify again after a gap.
How much money do I need to buy a house for the first time?
On a $400,000 home: minimum $12,000–20,000 (3–5% down) plus $8,000–16,000 in closing costs plus earnest money (1–2%, applied to closing) plus 2–6 months reserves. Total liquid cash needed: $25,000–45,000 on a $400K purchase. Down payment assistance programs can reduce this significantly.
What credit score do I need to buy a house?
Conventional loan minimum: 620. FHA with 3.5% down: 580. FHA with 10% down: 500. VA and USDA: typically 620 though no official minimum. Best rates (lowest mortgage insurance costs): 740+. Score below 620: work on credit before applying; 60–90 days of targeted improvement can add 40–80 points.
Do I need 20% down to buy a house?
No. The median first-time buyer put down 10% in 2025 (NAR). Conventional allows 3%, FHA 3.5%, VA and USDA allow 0% for eligible buyers. PMI (private mortgage insurance) applies below 20% down on conventional loans but cancels automatically at 78% LTV and costs roughly $100–$200/month on a $400K loan. Waiting to save 20% often costs more in rent paid and appreciation missed than PMI costs over the same period.
Own Luxury Homes® — audited first-time buyer specialists who represent you, not the lender. 12-Point Agent Integrity Audit™. Find your first-time buyer specialist ›
"The introduction Own Luxury Homes® makes is to a specialist with documented closing history in your specific market — not the county, not the metro, the submarket you're actually selling or buying in. That's the standard we verify before your name goes anywhere."
— Ryan Brown, Principal Broker & CEO, Own Luxury Homes® (FL License BK3626873)