What you do: Pull your full credit report from annualcreditreport.com (not Credit Karma, not your bank app). This is the federally mandated free version. Get all three bureaus. Read every line. Dispute any reporting error you find. They're more common than you think and they take 30–45 days to clear.

What you do: Forget Zillow's affordability calculator. Use a real one like my Central Florida affordability calculator that uses honest local taxes and insurance. The number you want is the monthly payment you can sustain, not the maximum home price the calculator spits out.

A clean rule of thumb in Orlando in 2026 is the 28/36 rule: keep housing cost (principal + interest + taxes + insurance + HOA) under 28% of your gross monthly income, and total debt (housing plus credit cards, auto, student loans) under 36%. Lenders will sometimes approve you up to 43%. Don't go there. The gap between "approved" and "comfortable" is where lives get squeezed.

What you do: Stop thinking about "down payment" as the only number. You need three buckets:

1. Down payment. Anywhere from 3% to 20%, depending on the loan. Conventional starts at 3% for first-time buyers, FHA at 3.5%. On a $400K home, $12,000 to $80,000. The 20% figure people quote is not a requirement.
2. Closing costs. About 2-4% of the home price in Florida. On a $400K home, expect $8,000 to $16,000.
3. Reserve. Lenders like to see at least 2-3 months of mortgage payments still in your account after closing. This isn't optional for many loan programs.

Real total for a $400K home with 5% down: roughly $28K to $36K out of pocket plus 3 months of payments in reserve.

Park the money in a high-yield savings account at an online bank. They pay meaningfully more than checking for the same FDIC-insured money. Rates move with the Fed, so shop around when you open one. Not checking. Not stocks.

What you do: Pick an agent who is honest with you when something's wrong, responsive when contracts are moving, and specific instead of vague when you ask them anything. Treat the first conversation like a real conversation and pay attention to how they handle it. If anyone pressures you to sign on the spot, walk away.

Once you pick, sign a Buyer Brokerage Agreement (BBA). The 2024 NAR settlement made these standard nationwide, and they have to be signed before an agent can show you homes. The BBA spells out who they work for and how they're paid. Read it. Ask questions. It's a real contract.

What you do: Get rate quotes from at least three lenders: a major bank you have a relationship with, a local Florida credit union, and an independent mortgage broker. Compare on three things: rate, total fees (the "lender credit" minus all the line items), and how fast they get back to you. Slow communicators at this stage are slow at closing.

Then pick one and get a real pre-approval letter. Not a pre-qualification. Pre-qualification is unfortunately what most online "5-minute approval" forms produce. Pre-approval requires that the lender pulled credit, verified income with documents, verified assets, and ran the file past an underwriter.

What you do: Pick 2 or 3 target areas. Not 7. Not "all of Orlando." Specific cities and neighborhoods. Drive them at different times of day. Look at the elementary school, the closest grocery store, the commute to where you actually work.

Then check: average property tax rate (varies by county), HOA fees if applicable, flood zone (huge in parts of Florida), and 5-year price trend for that area.

What you do: Start touring with the agent you picked in Step 4. Stick to the target areas you settled in Step 6. 3–5 homes per Saturday is plenty; more than that, you'll forget which was which.

Take notes the same day. Photos help, but a short written reaction beats a phone full of indistinguishable kitchens. Two homes per area is usually enough to calibrate; if every house in an area is disappointing the same way, the area is the problem, not the listings.

What you do: Once you find a home you'd actually buy, write the offer within a day or two. In 2026 Orlando, longer days-on-market mean you don't have to write same-day, and that window gives you room for a second visit or a quick contractor walk if either would help. Don't drag past a few days, though; a serious buyer still acts. Strong offers in Orlando have:

• A pre-approval letter from a known lender (Step 5)
• Proof of funds for the down payment + closing costs (a recent bank statement)
• An earnest money deposit of 1–3% of the price (this is real money, held in escrow)
• A reasonable inspection window (5–10 days)
• A reasonable financing contingency (15–21 days)

Your agent writes the offer; you sign. Then you wait.

Disclosures to read before you sign:

Florida is a caveat emptor state with one major residential exception (the Johnson v. Davis duty): sellers must disclose known material defects that aren't readily observable. Three disclosures you should expect on most Orlando transactions:

• Seller's Property Disclosure (Florida Realtors form). Covers known defects, prior repairs, systems ages, and neighborhood issues. Delivered with the listing in most cases. Look for what's missing as much as what's there; a blank section about prior water damage on a 25-year-old Florida home is a red flag, not a clean form.
• Lead-Based Paint Disclosure (federal, required for any home built before 1978). The seller must give you the pamphlet "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home" and disclose any known lead presence. You get a 10-day window for a lead inspection unless you waive it in writing. In Orlando, this applies mostly to pre-1978 housing stock, which is more common in Orlando's older neighborhoods. Most newer Orlando stock is unaffected.
• Radon Gas Disclosure. A required line on every Florida contract; not negotiable. Levels in the Orlando area are generally low but not zero. A radon test runs about $200 if you want a real number.

What you do: Book a licensed home inspector. The one your agent recommends is usually a solid starting point, but vet them before you book: how long they've worked in Florida, current state license, what a sample report looks like. Get a second quote if anything feels off. A good Orlando inspector runs $300-$500 for a typical SFH and is worth every dollar. Add $75-$150 each if your insurer wants a 4-point inspection(common on homes 25+ years old) or a wind mitigation report (Florida-specific; can earn meaningful insurance discounts). Be at the inspection if you can. Walk the home with them. Ask questions.

Then your lender orders the appraisal. You don't do anything for this step except don't apply for new credit, don't change jobs, and don't move large sums of money.

What you do:Wire the closing funds to the title company for the final amount (down payment + closing costs minus your earnest money). Wire transfer is the standard; most Florida title companies no longer accept paper checks for closing-day funds. The lender will give you the final number 1–2 days before closing. It's the "Closing Disclosure."

Bring two forms of ID. Bring a pen. Bring patience.

Sign approximately 87 documents. (No joke. The packet is thick.)

Get keys.