Before You Even Think About Buying Your First Home — Read This

By The Shopper Team · Updated August 2026

Start with your numbers, not with houses

The most common first-time-buyer mistake is falling in love with a home before understanding what you can actually afford to own. Before you tour anything, get pre-approved. It tells you your real price range, surfaces any credit or documentation issues while there’s still time to fix them, and makes your eventual offer far stronger.

Look at the full monthly payment, not just principal and interest — property taxes, insurance, and any HOA dues are part of what you’ll pay every month, and they vary a lot across the metro.

Kill the 20%-down myth

You do not need 20% down to buy a home. Conventional loans can start near 3% down, FHA around 3.5%, and VA loans at 0% for eligible buyers. Kansas and Missouri both offer assistance programs that can help with down payment or closing costs. Many first-time buyers qualify for more help than they realize — the only way to know is to ask.

Protect your credit while you shop

Don’t open new credit cards, finance a car, or make large unexplained deposits while you’re in the buying process — lenders re-check before closing. And when you rate-shop, do it inside a short window; multiple mortgage inquiries in a few weeks are generally treated as a single inquiry by the scoring models, so comparing lenders won’t hurt your score.

Line up your team early

A good agent and a good lender working together will catch problems before they become deal-breakers. We’ll help you get pre-approved with a lender you trust, set a realistic budget, and build a plan — so when the right home appears, you’re ready to move with confidence instead of scrambling.

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