Buying Your First House Checklist May 2026

An hour before closing, she checked that the seller hadn't taken the fridge or left a giant hole in the wall.

When the heavy brass key finally hit her palm, it felt warmer than she expected. buying your first house checklist

She didn't trust the online calculators. She sat down and figured out a mortgage payment that wouldn't leave her "house poor," making sure she still had money for groceries and, occasionally, a nice bottle of wine. Chapter 2: The Gatekeepers (Pre-Approval) Before Maya even looked at a porch, she called a lender. An hour before closing, she checked that the