Twelve steps, start to finish, in plain English. Including the one Texas has that almost no other state does — and the deadlines that actually matter.
You do not need 20% down.
That number comes from a rule about avoiding mortgage insurance, not a requirement to buy. Conventional loans go as low as 3% down. FHA is 3.5%. VA is zero down if you qualify. USDA is zero down in eligible areas.
Putting less down means a higher monthly payment and usually mortgage insurance — real trade-offs worth understanding. But "I need $80,000 saved before I can even look" keeps a lot of people renting years longer than they had to.
Not the price. The monthly payment — principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and HOA. In Texas, taxes and insurance are a large share of that, and two identical homes ten minutes apart can differ by hundreds of dollars a month.
A lender can tell you your real number in about twenty minutes. Do that before you fall in love with a house.
This confuses almost every first-time buyer. Here's what each one is, when you pay it, and whether you get it back.
Paid to the seller within 3 days of signing. It buys you the right to walk away for any reason during the option period. Non-refundable — but usually credited toward your purchase at closing.
Deposited with the title company, not the seller. It shows you're serious. Refundable if you terminate during the option period or if a contract contingency isn't met. Applied to your costs at closing.
Your equity in the home. Paid at closing. This isn't a fee — it's your money going into your own asset.
Loan origination, title work, appraisal, prepaid taxes and insurance, HOA transfer fees. Paid at closing. You can often ask the seller to contribute toward these.
| Item | When | Rough cost |
|---|---|---|
| Home inspection | Option period | $400–$600 |
| Optional inspections Termite, sewer scope, pool, foundation | Option period | $100–$500 each |
| Appraisal | After option period | $500–$800 |
| Survey If the seller's existing one can't be used | Under contract | $450–$700 |
| HOA transfer & resale fees | Closing | $300–$1,800 |
| First year insurance | Closing (prepaid) | $2,500–$4,000+ |
This is the whole thing. Some steps take months, some take an afternoon.
Three things lenders look at:
Pull your free credit reports at annualcreditreport.com and dispute anything wrong. Errors are common and they cost you real money.
Not pre-qualified — pre-approved. Pre-qualification is a conversation. Pre-approval means the lender pulled your credit and reviewed your income and assets. Sellers take it seriously; they mostly ignore the other one.
What you'll need: two years of tax returns and W-2s, recent pay stubs, two months of bank statements, and ID.
Talk to two or three lenders and compare Loan Estimates side by side — that's the standardized form that makes rates and fees comparable. Multiple mortgage inquiries in a short window count as one for credit scoring, so shopping doesn't hurt you.
As of 2026, Texas requires a written agreement before an agent represents you as a buyer. It spells out what I do, how long it lasts, and how I'm paid.
My compensation is set in that agreement between us. Separately, when we write your offer, we can ask the seller to contribute toward it. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't — it's negotiated like any other term.
I'll set you up on an MLS portal so you see listings the day they hit the market, not after they've been picked over.
What to actually look at: layout and flow, natural light, storage, what the house backs to, and condition of the big-ticket items — roof, HVAC, water heater. Paint and fixtures are cheap. Foundations and roofs are not.
Drive the commute at rush hour before you commit to an area. It's the single most useful hour you'll spend.
Texas uses standard promulgated contract forms. We decide together on:
The seller can accept, reject, or counter. Most deals involve at least one round of back and forth.
This is the Texas-specific one, and it's the most buyer-friendly thing in the contract.
You pay a small option fee and get a defined window during which you can terminate for any reason at all and get your earnest money back. You don't need a justification. You can decide the neighborhood feels wrong.
This is when inspections happen and when you negotiate repairs. See the full section below — it deserves more detail than a single step.
Always get one. Even on brand-new construction — a city code inspection confirms the legal minimum, not that the work is good.
The standard inspection covers structure, roof, foundation, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and appliances. Expect a long report with a lot of minor items; that's normal. Focus on the expensive and the unsafe.
Worth adding depending on the house: termite/WDI, sewer scope on older homes, pool, and a structural engineer if the foundation report raises anything.
Go to the inspection if you can. Walking through with the inspector teaches you more about the house than the report will.
Your lender sends an independent licensed appraiser to confirm the home is worth what you agreed to pay. It protects the lender — the house is their collateral — but it protects you from overpaying too.
It's different from the inspection. Inspection is about condition. Appraisal is about value. Different person, different purpose, and you need both.
If it comes in at or above your price, you never think about it again. If it comes in low, you have a gap — and options: the seller comes down, you bring the difference in cash, you split it, or depending on how the contract is written you may be able to terminate.
Your lender verifies everything and an underwriter reviews the full file. Expect to be asked for additional documents — sometimes documents you've already sent. It's normal. Respond fast; delays here push your closing date.
Near the end, the lender re-verifies your employment and re-pulls your credit. This is why the "don't do this" list below matters so much.
The title company researches the property's ownership history to confirm the seller can actually convey clear title, and checks for liens, easements, and claims. You'll receive a title commitment — read it, and ask about anything you don't understand.
Title insurance protects against ownership problems that surface later. In Texas the seller customarily pays for the owner's policy, but it's negotiable.
A survey shows the property boundaries and where structures sit. Often the seller's existing survey can be used with an affidavit; if not, you'll need a new one.
You walk the house one more time to confirm it's in the condition you agreed to, that agreed repairs were completed, and that anything meant to convey is still there.
Test the lights, run the faucets, turn on the HVAC, open the garage door. This is your last chance to raise an issue before the money moves.
In Texas, closings happen at a title company. You'll sign a stack of documents, and the one to actually read is the Closing Disclosure — you get it at least three business days beforehand, and it lists every dollar. Compare it to your Loan Estimate.
Bring: government-issued photo ID and your funds by wire transfer or cashier's check.
Once documents are signed and the loan funds, you get the keys.
Four main paths. Your lender will help you choose, but it helps to walk in knowing the difference.
3%+ down. Not government-backed. Needs stronger credit than FHA. Under 20% down you pay private mortgage insurance — but PMI drops off once you build enough equity, which is its big advantage.
3.5% down. Government-insured, more forgiving on credit. Trade-off: an upfront mortgage insurance premium plus an annual one — and with a low down payment that annual premium usually stays for the life of the loan.
Zero down, no monthly mortgage insurance. For eligible veterans, active duty, and some surviving spouses. There's a one-time funding fee that can be financed, and it's waived for those with a service-connected disability. The strongest program available.
Zero down in eligible rural and some suburban areas. Income limits apply. Parts of the outer Houston metro qualify — worth checking if you're looking further out.
If you're coming from another state, this is the thing you've never seen before — and it's worth understanding properly.
In most states, a buyer's ability to back out depends on specific contingencies: financing, inspection, appraisal. Texas gives you something broader.
You pay an option fee — usually $100 to $500 — within three days of the contract being signed. In exchange you get an unrestricted right to terminate for a set number of days. Any reason. No reason. Your earnest money comes back.
Waiting until day 5 of a 7-day option period to schedule the inspection. Inspectors book up, reports take a day, and repair estimates take longer. Book your inspection the day you go under contract.
The option period is a hard deadline. If it expires, your unrestricted right to walk expires with it.
A long inspection report is normal. Almost nothing is perfect, and asking for every item makes a seller dig in. Focus on:
Sellers can agree to repair, offer a price reduction or credit instead, or refuse entirely. A credit is often better than a repair — you control who does the work and how well.
Your lender re-verifies your credit and employment right before closing. Anything that changes your financial picture between pre-approval and closing can delay or kill your loan — and people lose houses over this every month.
The simplest version: from pre-approval to closing, change nothing financially. If something is genuinely unavoidable, call your lender before you do it — not after.
Four things to do in your first year. The first one saves you real money.
With your county appraisal district, for your primary residence. It's free, it's a one-time filing, and Texas raised the school-district exemption to $140,000 for 2026. It meaningfully reduces your property tax bill. Nobody files it for you.
You don't know who has keys. Transfer electricity — remember you choose your own retail provider in most of the Houston area — plus water, gas, trash, and internet.
If you bought new construction, most builder workmanship warranties expire at 12 months. An inspection at month 11 catches settling cracks and system issues while they're still covered. Almost nobody does this, and it's free money left on the table.
Your county reappraises annually. If the appraised value jumps unreasonably, you have the right to protest — there's a deadline each spring. Plenty of homeowners protest successfully every year.
Down payment plus closing costs plus a cushion. On a $350,000 home with 5% down, that's roughly $17,500 down and $7,000–$17,000 in closing costs — so call it $25,000 to $35,000, less if you negotiate a seller contribution. A lender can give you your actual number in twenty minutes.
It varies by loan type, and FHA is more forgiving than conventional. But the honest answer is that a higher score doesn't just get you approved — it gets you a lower rate, which changes your payment for thirty years. If your score is borderline, a few months of work first can be worth thousands.
My compensation is set in a written agreement between us, and we can ask the seller to contribute toward it when we write your offer. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. I'll tell you exactly what you're agreeing to before you sign anything — and I won't tell you it's free, because that's not how it works.
Nobody reliably predicts rates. What I can tell you is that you can refinance a rate later, but you can't go back and buy at last year's price. Right now Houston has record inventory and flat prices, which gives buyers leverage they haven't had in years. Whether that beats waiting depends on your situation, not on a forecast.
From signed contract to closing, typically 30 to 45 days. The search before that varies enormously — some people find it in two weeks, some take six months. Getting pre-approved early is what makes you able to move quickly when the right one shows up.
During the option period, yes — for any reason, with your earnest money returned. After it expires, your ability to terminate depends on the contract's contingencies. This is exactly why the option period matters and why you shouldn't waste it.
Yes, meaningfully. Builders use their own contracts rather than the standard forms, the option period may work differently, and most require your agent to register you on your first visit or you lose representation. There are real advantages to new builds — just talk to me before you tour one.
Texas isn't an attorney-closing state — title companies handle closings. Most residential transactions don't involve an attorney. But if something is unusual, or you're signing a builder's contract, having one review it is money well spent.
Whether you're six months out or just starting to wonder if this is possible, I'm happy to walk through your situation with nothing attached. Buying a home is the largest purchase most people ever make — you should understand every step of it before you're standing in it.