Pick the journey that matches yours. Each guide is a ten-point checklist — the moves that matter, in the order they matter.
Ten things to do before you sign — and a short list of the moves that quietly cost you the deal.
Buying your first home in Texas is rarely a single decision. It is a sequence of smaller ones — credit, savings, lender, agent, neighborhood, offer, option period, close — each one stacked on the last. Get the order right and the process feels almost ordinary. Get it wrong and you'll pay for it twice: once in dollars, once in months.
This is the short version of what I walk every first-time buyer through. Read it once. Refer back to it as you go.
Get all three reports — Equifax, Experian, TransUnion — at annualcreditreport.com. Lenders price loans off the middle score. A 620 gets you in the door for FHA; a 740+ unlocks the best conventional pricing.
Dispute errors now. Pay down revolving balances below 30% of the limit. Do not close old accounts — length of history matters.
A lender's pre-approval is the ceiling, not the target. Use the 28/36 rule: housing costs (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, HOA) under 28% of gross monthly income, total debt under 36%.
In Texas, property taxes run 2.0–2.8% of value annually. A $400,000 home can carry $700–$900/month in taxes alone — before the mortgage.
Down payment is what people talk about. The two no one mentions: closing costs (2–5% of the price) and cash reserves (2–6 months of payments, sometimes required by the lender, always required by reality).
On a $350,000 home, plan for roughly $7,000–$17,500 in closing costs on top of your down payment.
Pre-qualification is a conversation. Pre-approval is a documented underwrite: pay stubs, W-2s, tax returns, bank statements, credit pull. Sellers read the difference instantly.
FHA — 3.5% down, 580+ credit, mortgage insurance for the life of the loan.
VA — 0% down for eligible veterans, no PMI, capped funding fee.
USDA — 0% down in rural eligible areas (much of Williamson County qualifies).
Conventional — as low as 3% down with strong credit; PMI drops at 80% LTV.
TSAHC / TDHCA — Texas down-payment assistance up to 5% as a grant or second lien.
Since the 2024 NAR settlement, buyer-broker compensation is negotiated up front and disclosed in writing. A signed agreement makes me legally your fiduciary — not a friendly third party.
Without it, you're navigating the largest purchase of your life with no one contractually on your side.
Texas is one of the only states with a paid option period — typically 5–10 days where you can terminate for any reason for a small fee. This is when you inspect, re-negotiate, and walk away if needed.
Schedule the inspection within 48 hours of executed contract. Get a general inspection, plus specialty (roof, foundation, HVAC, pool) where warranted.
In hot markets, buyers waive inspections, appraisals, and financing contingencies to win. Each waiver transfers risk from the seller to you.
Appraisal gap coverage (agreeing to bring extra cash if the home appraises low) is often a smarter middle ground than waiving the appraisal entirely.
Texas has no state income tax — it makes up the difference in property tax. Williamson County effective rates: roughly 2.0–2.5% depending on city, school district, MUD, and PID.
Homeowner's insurance in Central Texas runs $1,800–$3,500/year depending on age of home, roof, and proximity to flood zones. Get quotes during the option period, not after.
Texas law caps annual appraisal increases on a homesteaded primary residence at 10%. The exemption itself knocks $100,000 off the assessed value for school taxes (as of 2023 law).
File with your county appraisal district — Williamson, Travis, or wherever you closed. It's free. Watch for scam letters charging $50 to file for you.
The financial dos and don'ts that quietly kill loans.
Ten moves that decide whether a brand-new home becomes an asset or a slow regret.
New construction looks simple from the outside. You pick a floor plan, choose a lot, and watch a house go up. In reality, you are negotiating a contract written entirely by the builder, on a price the builder sets, with a sales agent paid by the builder, often using a lender owned by the builder. The deck is not stacked against you — but it is not stacked for you either.
What follows is the short list of decisions that separate buyers who do well from buyers who don't.
Builder sales reps work for the builder. They are licensed, they are friendly, and they owe you nothing.
Most builders require your buyer's agent to be present — and registered — at your first visit to compensate them. If you walk in alone, then come back with an agent later, the builder can refuse representation. You'll negotiate the largest purchase of your life by yourself.
Model homes are professionally staged, professionally finished, and not always representative of what you'll receive. The builder behind it matters more than the floor plan.
Check the Better Business Bureau, Texas Real Estate Commission complaints, and recent Google reviews. Drive a finished neighborhood the builder completed 3–5 years ago — that's what your home will look like at that age. Knock on a few doors. People will tell you the truth.
Most builders use their own proprietary contract, not the standard TREC form. These contracts are written by builder attorneys and favor the builder by design.
Common asymmetries: limited or no option period, binding arbitration clauses, builder controls the closing date, earnest money is harder to get back, builder defines "substantial completion."
Read every page. If you don't understand a clause, have a real estate attorney review before signing. The $300 review fee is the cheapest insurance in the entire transaction.
You can remodel a kitchen. You cannot move a lot. Consider:
Orientation — afternoon sun on the back patio in Texas means an unusable yard from May to October.
Drainage — corner lots collect more water; lots downhill from a retention pond collect all of it.
Easements — utility easements can prevent fences, pools, or sheds.
Road noise — lots backing to major roads or future commercial lose 5–10% in resale.
Greenbelt vs. neighbor — privacy is worth the lot premium. Almost always.
The design center is where margin lives. Builders mark up upgrades 100–300% over retail because most buyers pay in cash through the mortgage and don't feel it.
Pay the builder for what you can't change later: structural changes, electrical layout, plumbing rough-ins, recessed lighting, additional outlets, garage extensions, taller ceilings, larger windows.
Do it yourself after closing: light fixtures, mirrors, faucets, shelving, paint, landscaping, blinds. The same upgrades cost 40–60% less at Ferguson, Lowe's, or a local contractor.
Builders offer incentives ($5,000–$25,000 in closing costs, rate buydowns, design center credits) to use their preferred lender. The incentive is real. It is also often offset by a higher rate or higher fees.
Get a Loan Estimate from the builder's lender and from at least two outside lenders within the same week. Compare APR, not just rate. Sometimes the incentive wins. Sometimes the outside lender saves you $20,000 over the life of the loan even after losing the incentive.
Once the drywall goes up, you can no longer see the framing, plumbing, electrical, or HVAC rough-ins. A pre-drywall inspection — by your own third-party inspector, not the builder's — catches issues while they are still cheap to fix.
Cost: $300–$500. Common findings: missing fire-blocking, plumbing not properly secured, electrical runs in wrong locations, HVAC ducting undersized for the square footage.
A final walkthrough inspection (separate from the builder's blue-tape walk) catches cosmetic and functional defects while they are still the builder's responsibility to fix.
Then, before your 1-year workmanship warranty expires, do an 11-month inspection. Settling cracks, nail pops, sticking doors, HVAC imbalance — submit the punch list before month twelve or you pay out of pocket.
Williamson County master-planned communities frequently sit inside a Municipal Utility District (MUD) or Public Improvement District (PID). These are additional taxing entities layered on top of your county and school taxes.
A 2.2% county tax rate can become 3.0–3.4% inside an active MUD. On a $500,000 home, that's $4,000–$6,000/year of additional taxes. The MUD bond is paid down over 20–30 years; rates decline as it amortizes, but plan for the early years.
HOA dues vary from $300/year (basic) to $3,000+/year (amenity-heavy communities like Sun City). Get the dues, the bylaws, and the resale certificate before you go under contract.
Most Texas builders provide a tiered structural warranty. The terms vary, but the standard framework looks like this:
Document every issue in writing, with photos, dated. Verbal promises from a superintendent expire the day he transfers to another community.