Buying Your First House Checklist -

She interviewed three Real Estate Agents . She chose Sarah, a woman who knew the neighborhood's "bones" and didn't mind Maya’s endless questions about plumbing. Chapter 3: The Quest (The Search)

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. buying your first house checklist

She found it—a craftsman cottage with a blue door. Her heart raced as Sarah drafted the offer. She interviewed three Real Estate Agents

Two bedrooms (one for an office), a sturdy roof, and a kitchen that didn't look like a 1970s time capsule. She sat down and figured out a mortgage

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

Maya visited her favorite house at 10:00 PM on a Tuesday. Was it loud? Did the streetlights work? She needed to know what life was like when the sun went down. Chapter 4: The Moment of Truth (The Offer)

Maya insisted on an inspection contingency . She wouldn't buy a house that was secretly being held together by termites and hope.