First-Time Homebuyer
Buying your first home in Orlando? Start with the number.
Two numbers in, a real Central Florida price out, with the property tax and insurance national calculators leave out. Compare FHA, 5% down, and 20% down. No email, no phone call.
Built by a licensed Orlando REALTOR®.
Start here
The payment most calculators show you is wrong for Florida.
National calculators quietly assume cheap insurance and low property tax. In Central Florida, those two lines are the difference between a payment you can carry and one that breaks at closing. Here is the real shape of the number.
A national calculator
~$2,550/mo
Example $350K home, 5% down, today's rates.
- Principal & interest
- Property tax (lowballed)
- Insurance assumed around $90/mo
Central Florida reality
~$2,950/mo
Same home, with FL taxes and insurance counted honestly.
- Principal & interest
- Property tax, Central FL rates
- Insurance closer to $380/mo
Rounded example for illustration, not a loan approval or quote. Your numbers depend on the home, your rate, and your full application.
What you're actually paying every month
"The mortgage" is four or five separate things. Knowing the parts is how you spot a payment that's about to get tight.
Principal & Interest
The actual loan payment. It's the biggest piece, and the rate moves it more than the price does.
Property Taxes
Collected monthly into escrow. Ask about the homestead exemption once it's your primary home; it lowers the bill.
Homeowners Insurance
The Florida wildcard. It runs well above the national average, and it's the line most online estimates get badly wrong.
Mortgage Insurance (Sometimes) & HOA
Put less than 20% down and you'll carry mortgage insurance for a while. Buy a condo or planned community and an HOA fee gets added on top.
Three ways to buy your first home
Your down payment isn't just "how much cash." It changes how much home your budget buys, whether you carry mortgage insurance, and how strong your offer looks. The right one depends on what you actually have saved.
FHA Loan
3.5% down
The lowest cash to get in the door. The trade-off: mortgage insurance usually stays for the life of the loan, so it eats into your budget and buys a little less home. Best when savings are the tight part.
Lowest cash up front
Conventional
5% down
A bit more cash than FHA, but the mortgage insurance drops off once you reach 20% equity. It isn't forever. A common middle path for first-time buyers.
The popular middle
Conventional
20% down
The most cash up front, but no mortgage insurance, so your whole budget goes toward the home and buys the most house. It also makes the strongest-looking offer to a seller. Best when you have the savings ready.
Most home, no MI
One thing first-timers miss: the cash to close is more than the down payment.
Plan for closing costs on top, usually around 3% of the price. On a $350,000 home that's roughly another $10,500. The calculator adds this in, so the cash number you see is the real one, not just the down payment.
Once you have a number
The number tells you what. Not whether, or when.
A price is the start. Two more free tools, for when you want to know if you're actually ready and what the whole path looks like.
Where you stand
The Readiness Quiz
Ten questions, three minutes. A personalized tier (Ready Now, 90-Day Sprint, or Foundation Phase) with a realistic timeline and the two or three specific gaps between you and your first home.
See the QuizThe full path
The 10-Step First Home Roadmap
The full sequence from "I think I'm ready" to keys in hand. Every step of buying your first home in the Orlando area, with the local gotchas named. Delivered to your inbox in 60 seconds.
Get the RoadmapWhy I built this for first-time buyers
Most "buyer guides" handed out by agents in this market are two pages of inspirational copy and a glossary. They don't tell you the one number you came for, and they leave out the Florida costs that actually decide whether a home fits your budget.
So I built the opposite. A calculator that uses real Central Florida taxes and insurance, an honest breakdown of where the money goes, and the loan paths laid out plainly. It's yours to use, free, whether or not we ever talk. If the quiz or the roadmap would help, they're here on your own timeline.
Not your first home?
Move-up and relocation buyers, the fastest path is a call.
The calculator and quiz are built for first-time buyers. If you've already done this before, whether you're selling and buying at the same time, relocating from out of state, or just looking for a buyer's agent who'll do the math instead of the sales pitch, let's talk.
Schedule a Buyer ConsultationFree. Orlando area.