What your first home really costs

Before you look at a single house, look at your income, your monthly debts and what you've saved, and find out your credit score. That gives you a price range you can live with, not just the most a lender will approve.

If saving is the hard part, Ohio has programs that help, and many first-time buyers never hear about them. The terms are right here.

A lender checks your income, savings and credit, and tells you in writing how much they'll lend. Sellers expect to see that letter with an offer, so it's worth having before you fall for a house.

I set your search to what you told me, and new listings reach you the day they post. We tour the ones worth seeing, and I'll tell you honestly what I think of each.

Before we write anything, I'll show you what similar homes nearby sold for. Your offer sets the price, an earnest money deposit, and the conditions that protect you, like the inspection. Then you decide the number.

An inspector goes through the house top to bottom, and the lender's appraiser checks the price against the home's value. If something serious turns up, we can ask for repairs or a credit, or walk away within the inspection period.

Six of my nine closings were houses built before 1960. I know what inspections usually find in older houses and roughly what the work costs.

At least three business days before closing, your lender sends a Closing Disclosure with the final numbers. You do a last walk-through of the house, sign, and get your keys.