First step in home buying: Look at houses or talk to bank?
2026
If you have been saving up some money for some time, are steady with your job and looking to put down roots, then it is likely a good time to think about making your first real estate purchase. My thoughts on first steps are twofold.
First, speak to a local Realtor who does business in the place where you want to live. Get a referral from someone you know or meet a Realtor at an open house. Sit down with the realtor and gather as much information as possible about YOUR local market, the process, time frames and how the market is doing. It is important to understand upfront if it is a buyers’ market, a sellers’ market or an even market. Ask them how long you should expect to search for a home, what the inventory of homes for sale is and how the market has been in the past year and where they think it is going. That way you can understand the market dynamics.
Next step would be to meet with a mortgage banker or broker. You will want to find out how much you can afford, what types of loans are available and what the interest rates are. Getting “pre-approved” for a loan will save lots of time later. From there, you can go back to the Realtor with your pre-approval and better understand where you fit in the market. If you can afford $300K that might help determine what type of home you can buy or what neighborhood, compared to say, $400K.
Between the Realtor and the bank, you should have a good understanding of getting the ball rolling.
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