Are you actually ready to buy? A real checklist

The number that matters isn't the price

It's the all-in monthly cost: principal, interest, property taxes, insurance, any mortgage insurance, HOA dues, utilities that were previously included, and a maintenance reserve of roughly 1% of the home's value per year. That last line is the one first-time buyers skip and then finance on a credit card.

A useful guardrail: keep all-in housing near or below 28% of gross income and total debt payments below about 36%. Lenders may approve more. Approval is not affordability.

Readiness checklist

• Emergency fund fully intact after closing — not spent on the down payment.
• Down payment plus closing costs (typically 2–5% of price) saved separately.
• Stable income you expect to keep for at least the next two to three years.
• High-interest consumer debt cleared or nearly cleared.
• Credit report reviewed and errors resolved before applying.
• A realistic plan to stay in the home five-plus years, since transaction costs dominate short holds.

Don't assume you need 20%

Many buyers qualify for programs with much smaller down payments, and state and local first-time buyer assistance, grants, and closing-cost help are widely underused. Twenty percent avoids mortgage insurance, but waiting years to reach it isn't automatically the better financial choice — compare the cost of mortgage insurance against the rent and price changes in the meantime.

What house poor actually feels like

Payments are technically covered, but savings stop, the buffer thins, and every repair goes on a card. That's the failure mode to design against — which is why the reserve, the intact emergency fund, and the 28% guardrail matter more than getting in this quarter.