Home Buying Guides
What buying a home actually costs, start to finish — down payments, loan types, closing costs, contingencies, and cash needed at signing.
Buying a home breaks into three cost layers most explainers blur together: money you put at risk before you own anything, money due at the closing table, and money that starts recurring the day you get the keys. The guides below price each stage; this page is about what actually sequences the transaction and which of those costs you can negotiate versus which are simply fixed.
21 published guides
The First-Time Home Buyer Guide
The complete first-time buyer journey for 2026 — from deciding whether to buy through getting the keys and your first year: every step and cost, FHA/conventional/VA/USDA loans, down-payment assistance, and a free calculator at each phase.
First-Time Home Buyer Questions, Answered
The 30 questions first-time buyers actually ask — how much to put down (the median is 10%, not 20%), what closing costs really run, who can pay them, when PMI ends, and what changes the month you get the keys. Sourced 2026 figures, with a calculator for every answer.
The True Cost of Buying a Home in 2026
Every cost of buying, stage by stage — the roughly $700 you spend on an inspection and appraisal before you own anything, earnest money, the 2%–5% at closing, move-in, and the first year of ownership. A master cost table links each line to the calculator that prices it.
How Much Money Do You Need to Buy a $400,000 House?
Every line of cash a $400k purchase requires in 2026 — down payment scenarios (3%, 3.5% FHA, 5%, 10%, 20%), closing costs, earnest money, reserves, and first-year costs — with the arithmetic shown. Includes $300k and $500k versions and a printable worksheet.
How to Buy a House Without a Realtor
Buying a home without an agent in 2026 — the phases of the transaction, the paperwork and who prepares it, who supports an unrepresented buyer, the real commission savings after the NAR settlement, and the risks.
What Credit Score Do You Need to Buy a House?
The minimum credit score by loan type in 2026 — FHA 580 (or 500 with 10% down), conventional 620, VA and USDA — plus how your score changes your rate and PMI, and how to raise it before you apply.
FHA vs Conventional for First-Time Buyers
3.5% vs 3% down, 580 vs 620 credit score, and the mortgage-insurance difference that usually decides it: FHA MIP can last the life of the loan while conventional PMI cancels at 20% equity.
Down Payment Assistance: Grants & Programs Explained
How assistance works in 2026 — grants, forgivable second loans, repayable seconds, and mortgage credit certificates — who qualifies, how it stacks with your mortgage, and the repayment catches.
How Much Earnest Money Should You Put Down?
How much to offer (typically 1–3% of price), where it's held, when it's refundable through your contingencies, when you forfeit it, and how it's credited toward your down payment at closing.
Real Estate Contingencies Explained
The inspection, appraisal, and financing contingencies — how each protects your earnest money and gives you leverage, why deadlines matter, and what waiving them really risks.
Appraisal Came in Low? Your Appraisal Gap Options
What to do when a home appraises below your offer — renegotiate, split the difference, pay the gap in cash, or walk — plus appraisal gap coverage and how to request a reconsideration of value.
The Hidden Costs of Buying a Home
The costs first-time buyers don't see coming — closing prepaids, escrow, rising insurance, HOA dues, and maintenance — with a realistic first-year budget and sourced figures.
Title Insurance Cost: Promulgated vs. Filed-Rate States
Title insurance averages $1,337 (0.42% of price) nationally, but Texas, Florida, and New Mexico fix one mandatory rate by law — and rank among the most expensive states for it, not the cheapest. What promulgated vs. filed rates mean for your own closing.
USDA Loans: 0% Down for Eligible Areas
How USDA guaranteed loans work in 2026 — 0% down, the 1% upfront and 0.35% annual guarantee fees, the 115%-of-AMI income limit and property eligibility, and how USDA compares with FHA and conventional.
How Much Money Do You Need to Buy a $300,000 House?
The full cash-to-close breakdown for a $300k home in 2026 — down payment options, closing costs, earnest money, reserves, and first-year costs, recalculated at the current Freddie Mac rate.
How Much Money Do You Need to Buy a $500,000 House?
The full cash-to-close breakdown for a $500k home in 2026 — down payment options, closing costs, earnest money, reserves, and first-year costs, recalculated at the current Freddie Mac rate.
How Much House Can I Afford on $60,000 a Year?
The price range a $60,000 salary supports in 2026, by down payment, with the full monthly payment behind it and every assumption shown at the current Freddie Mac 30-year rate.
How Much House Can I Afford on $75,000 a Year?
The price range a $75,000 salary supports in 2026, by down payment, with the full monthly payment behind it and every assumption shown at the current Freddie Mac 30-year rate.
How Much House Can I Afford on $80,000 a Year?
The price range an $80,000 salary supports in 2026, by down payment, with the full monthly payment behind it and every assumption shown at the current Freddie Mac 30-year rate.
How Much House Can I Afford on $100,000 a Year?
The price range a $100,000 salary supports in 2026, by down payment, with the full monthly payment behind it and every assumption shown at the current Freddie Mac 30-year rate.
How Much House Can I Afford on $120,000 a Year?
The price range a $120,000 salary supports in 2026, by down payment, with the full monthly payment behind it and every assumption shown at the current Freddie Mac 30-year rate.
The cash-to-close stack, in order
Cash leaves your account in a specific sequence, not all at once. Earnest money is the first: it's deposited into escrow within days of an accepted offer, before an inspection or appraisal has happened. Inspection and appraisal fees follow, usually paid out of pocket rather than financed. Everything else — the bulk of it — is due at closing.
The CFPB's Loan Estimate sorts closing costs into four buckets: origination charges from your lender; services you can't shop for because the lender picks the provider; services you can shop for yourself, with the lender required to give you an approved-provider list; and "other costs" — prepaid property taxes, homeowners insurance, and recording fees set by your local government, not your lender. Which bucket a fee lands in determines whether comparing lenders actually saves you money on it.
Your lender is required to hand you the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before your actual closing date — a fixed window meant to give you time to check the final numbers against the Loan Estimate you got weeks earlier, before you're signing at the table.
What's negotiable, what's fixed
Government recording fees and transfer taxes are fixed by statute — no lender controls them. FHA, VA, and USDA mortgage insurance premiums are set by the federal program itself, not the lender offering the loan, so shopping lenders won't move that number. Title insurance is different: the CFPB lists it among the services you're entitled to shop for separately from your lender's picks, and lender origination charges are negotiable across lenders by definition — that's the whole point of getting more than one Loan Estimate.
Down payment minimums are also fixed by loan type, not up for negotiation. FHA requires 3.5% down with a 580 credit score, or 10% down at 500–579, per HUD's Handbook 4000.1. VA loans require no down payment at all, offset by a funding fee of 0.5%–3.3% of the loan depending on use and category, per the VA's published loan-fee schedule. What moves week to week is the rate you're borrowing at: Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the 30-year fixed average at 6.65% and the 15-year at 5.95% for the week of August 20, 2026 — run your own numbers with the mortgage affordability calculator and down payment savings calculator below.
Sources
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — "Your Loan Estimate" (fee category explainer) — accessed 2026-08-25
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — "What fees or charges are paid when closing on a mortgage and who pays them?" — accessed 2026-08-25
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — "What are title service fees?" — accessed 2026-08-25
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — "How long before closing must I receive the Closing Disclosure?" — accessed 2026-08-25
- HUD — Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 (FHA minimum credit score and down payment) — accessed 2026-08-25
- U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs — "Loan Fees" (VA Home Loans) — accessed 2026-08-25
- Freddie Mac — Primary Mortgage Market Survey — accessed 2026-08-25
Other guide categories
Selling a Home
3What it costs to sell, what commission really runs after the NAR settlement, and how to decide between selling and renting your place out.
Mortgages & Refinancing
6Loan-term and refinance decisions with real numbers — break-even math, total interest, and borrowing against equity.
Renovation & Repair
12What projects cost in 2026, where the money goes line by line, how to read and compare contractor bids, and when repairing beats replacing.
Home Systems & Energy
9HVAC, furnaces and winterization — replacement costs by system type, efficiency payback, and the repair-or-replace call.
Insurance & Taxes
5The tax credits and insurance costs that move a homeowner's yearly number, with sourced figures you're free to cite.