The Arizona First-Time Buyer Guide

FHA loans start at 3.5% down with a 580 credit score. Many conventional loans go as low as 3%. VA loans require nothing down at all. On a $400,000 home, 3.5% is $14,000 - not $80,000. The 20% number only matters because it is where conventional mortgage insurance falls off, which is a monthly payment question, not a question of whether you get to buy.

Arizona runs a program called Home Plus that puts up to 4% of your loan amount toward the down payment and closing costs. Live in the home 60 months and it is forgiven, meaning you repay nothing. The income limit is currently $155,386, and you do not have to be a first-time buyer to qualify. You do have to finish a homebuyer education course. Most buyers I meet have never heard of it.

The down payment is not the whole bill. Plan on earnest money of roughly 1% of the price, held in escrow and credited back to you at closing. A home inspection. An appraisal your lender orders. Closing costs that typically land between 2% and 4% of the price, though sellers often pay part of them. And the first year of property taxes and homeowners insurance, which your lender collects up front. A good rule: whatever you have saved for the down payment, add about 3% on top and you will not be blindsided.

Talk to a lender before you look at a single house. Not to commit to anything, but to find out what you actually qualify for and whether Home Plus fits. Then get a real preapproval, not a prequalification. Then start touring. Buyers who tour first almost always fall for something they cannot finance, and that is a bad week. If you want an introduction to a lender who will explain things instead of rushing you, I have people I trust.