The Texas homebuying guide

Three numbers decide most of your mortgage: your credit score, your debt-to-income ratio (DTI), and your cash. Start here three to six months before you want to buy, and small moves pay off.

• Credit: pay every account on time, get card balances under 30% of their limits, and don't open or close anything new.
• DTI: lenders compare your monthly debt payments to your gross income. Under 43% is the common ceiling; under 36% prices better.
• Cash: down payment plus 2–4% for closing costs plus a cushion. Keep it in one account and avoid moving money around; underwriters need to trace every large deposit.

Pre-approval means a lender actually reviewed your credit, income, and assets, and it's the document that makes sellers take your offer seriously. It also surfaces problems while they're still cheap to fix.

Ours takes about a day once you send documents, costs nothing, and the initial quote doesn't touch your credit. You'll get a letter we can match to any offer price so you never show a seller more buying power than you need to.

The bank tells you the most you can borrow. Your budget is what you should borrow, and in Texas the difference is usually property taxes and insurance.

Compare homes on the full monthly payment, PITI: principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. Two identical houses in different school districts can differ by hundreds a month in taxes. Newer builds often carry MUD or PID district taxes on top; ask before you fall in love.

• Run scenarios with our affordability calculator.
• Leave room for utilities, HOA dues, and the repairs that come with any house.
• File your homestead exemption after closing; it caps annual assessed-value increases at 10%.

A good buyer's agent earns their fee in negotiation and in what they notice at showings. Interview two or three, ask how many deals they closed in your target area last year, and make sure they answer their phone the way we do.

When you tour homes, look past the staging: roof age, HVAC age, water heater, drainage away from the slab, and the electrical panel. In Texas, cracks around door frames and doors that won't latch are the classic foundation tells; note them for the inspector.

Price gets attention, but terms close deals. A complete offer in Texas includes your price, earnest money (typically 1%), an option fee and option period for inspections, your financing terms, and the closing date.

• Strong pre-approval letter dated this week, matched to the offer price.
• Reasonable option period — 5–7 days signals seriousness without giving up your inspection.
• A lender who closes fast. Our 16-day average lets your agent offer a closing date most buyers can't.
• Seller concessions: in a balanced market, asking the seller to cover closing costs is normal, and on VA loans they can also pay your funding fee.

The busiest stretch. During your option period, get the inspection and negotiate repairs or credits. Meanwhile we order the appraisal and move your file into underwriting.

The appraisal protects you and the lender by confirming the home's value. If it comes in low, you renegotiate, cover the gap, or walk; we'll show you the numbers for each. Underwriting verifies everything in your file, so expect a few document requests and answer them same-day to keep the clock moving.

"Clear to close" means underwriting is done. Three business days before closing you'll get the Closing Disclosure, the final version of your numbers. Compare it to your Loan Estimate and ask us about anything that moved.

At closing you'll sign at a title company, wire your funds (call the title company to verify wire instructions by phone; wire fraud is real), and once the loan funds, the house is yours. In Texas, funding usually happens the same day.

Three tasks in the first month: file your homestead exemption with the county appraisal district (free, takes minutes, saves real money), set up your insurance and tax escrow review, and keep your closing packet somewhere safe.

Then set a rate alert with us. If rates drop enough to matter, a refinance (or a VA IRRRL, which skips most of the paperwork) can cut your payment, and you'll hear about it from us before you see it in a headline.