Zero to keys: the whole thing, in order

Talk to a loan officer before anything else. A soft conversation about income, debts, and credit gives you a realistic price range and monthly payment — the anchor for every decision after.

Rule one of this entire site: the numbers come before the scrolling. Zillow without a budget is a mood board. Zillow with a pre-approval is a plan. Start with the calculator, then ask Zach for your real range.

Minnesota Housing and most local assistance programs require an approved homebuyer education course. Take it early — it is required anyway and it front-loads the knowledge.

Minnesota's approved courses include online options, and completing one is a hard requirement for MN Housing loans when all borrowers are first-timers — plus most county and city programs. One course, many doors.

Spend 30–90 days on high-impact credit moves: on-time payments, paying down card balances to lower utilization, and not opening new accounts. Park savings somewhere boring and reachable.

The full set of moves — and the traps — live in the Credit Score Playbook.

Match your income, household size, and target counties or cities against Minnesota Housing programs plus county and city down payment assistance. This can change your cash-to-close by five figures.

This is Zach's favorite part of the job. State layer: MN Housing. Local layer: county & city grants. The stack is address-specific, so run it early — it may change where you shop.

Submit documents — pay stubs, W-2s or tax returns, bank statements, ID — and get a pre-approval letter. This is what turns browsing into buying.

Everything you'll be asked for is on the document prep checklist. Gathering it before you're asked is the single biggest speed hack in the process.

Tour homes inside your real budget. Use a touring checklist so excitement does not overwrite judgment.

Print (or open) the house-hunting checklist at every showing.

Your agent structures the offer; once accepted, you order an inspection, the lender orders an appraisal, and underwriting verifies everything.

Review the Closing Disclosure against your Loan Estimate, do the final walkthrough, wire your funds safely (verify instructions by phone), sign, and collect keys.

The closing-day checklist covers the last 72 hours, including wire-fraud protection.