{"id":23637,"date":"2025-02-27T04:58:14","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T12:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=23637"},"modified":"2025-03-01T00:16:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T08:16:49","slug":"buyer-how-does-a-mortgage-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-does-a-mortgage-work\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does a Mortgage Work? A Simplified Guide for First-Time Buyers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The time has come: You\u2019re ready to dip your toes into homeownership, and you\u2019re vaguely aware you might need a mortgage<\/a> to get the job done. The only problem? You don\u2019t know the first thing about mortgages \u2014 how much they cost, how to get one, and how long the approval takes. In fact, you\u2019re probably wondering, \u201cHow does a mortgage work, exactly?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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\n \"homelight\n <\/div>\n \n

Discover How Much Home You Can Afford With Our Home Affordability Calculator<\/h3>\n

Understand the costs associated with buying a home and find out what safe budgeting looks like.<\/p>\n \n

\n Get Started<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

You\u2019re not alone \u2014 mortgage stress is real. Many first-time buyers feel overwhelmed by the homebuying process<\/a>, as it involves making key decisions like figuring out how much house they can afford<\/a>, choosing the right location, securing financing for all the costs<\/a>, and more.<\/p>\n

The inertia ends here! We spoke to Richie Helali<\/a>, Mortgage Sales Leader at HomeLight, to walk us through the basics of getting a mortgage. Here\u2019s what buyers need to know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How does a mortgage work? Top experts walk through the basics on mortgages so you can tackle your home purchase with ease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":55056,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192,629,632],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-buyers","category-home-financing","category-mortgage-loans"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow Does a Mortgage Work? A Simplified Guide for First-Time Buyers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How does a mortgage work? 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Top experts walk through the basics on mortgages so you can tackle your home purchase with ease.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-does-a-mortgage-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HomeLight Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-27T12:58:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-01T08:16:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Untitled-design-18.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"564\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chelsea Levinson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chelsea Levinson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"26 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Does a Mortgage Work? 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