{"id":25848,"date":"2026-02-04T04:19:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T12:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=25848"},"modified":"2026-02-05T20:06:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T04:06:24","slug":"buyer-how-to-apply-for-a-first-time-home-buyers-loan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-to-apply-for-a-first-time-home-buyers-loan\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Apply For a First-Time Home Buyers Loan: Simplifying the Process Into 8 Doable Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first time you do something is always the hardest, and <\/span>buying a house<\/span><\/a> is no exception. Fortunately, <\/span>first-time homebuyer loans<\/span><\/a> can ease the process by providing access to special mortgage programs with low <\/span>down payments<\/span><\/a>. You might even find grants to assist with closing costs and down payments. Sounds great, right? But if you’re unsure how to proceed, it can feel daunting and discouraging. That’s where we come in. With this expert-backed guide, we’ll show you how to apply for a <\/span>first-time homebuyer’s loan<\/span><\/a> in eight manageable steps.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Step one: Talk to a few buyer's agents!<\/h3>\n

Tell us a little bit about your plans (where you’re looking to buy and when you want to make a purchase) and we’ll connect you with top-rated buyer’s agents in your area. It takes only a few minutes, and it’s free.<\/p>\n \n

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

Step 1: Make sure you qualify<\/h2>\n

If you haven’t owned a house in the past three years, you’ll qualify for most first-time homebuyer programs. However, if you own a rental or <\/span>investment property<\/span><\/a>, even if you don’t live there, you won’t be considered a first-time buyer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Keep in mind that for government-backed first-time homebuyer loans like the <\/span>Federal Housing Administration’s FHA loan<\/span><\/a> or the <\/span>U.S. Department of Agriculture’s USDA loan<\/span><\/a>, both the buyer <\/span>and the home<\/i><\/b> must meet the qualifications. Be sure to review the requirements for your specific mortgage, as many programs offered at the local or state level have income restrictions.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Step 2: Research down payment assistance in your area<\/h2>\n

There are thousands of <\/span>down payment assistance (DPA) programs<\/span><\/a>, which are run by more than 1,300 agencies \u2014 so there is a lot of help out there. These break down into <\/span>four main categories<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mortgage experts walk you through the process; here\u2019s how to apply for a first time homebuyers loan in eight manageable steps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":46376,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192,621,620],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-buyers","category-home-buyer","category-buy-house"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Apply For a First-Time Home Buyers Loan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mortgage experts walk you through the process; here\u2019s how to apply for a first time home buyers loan in eight manageable steps.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-to-apply-for-a-first-time-home-buyers-loan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Apply For a First-Time Home Buyers Loan: Simplifying the Process Into 8 Doable Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mortgage experts walk you through the process; here\u2019s how to apply for a first time home buyers loan in eight manageable steps.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-to-apply-for-a-first-time-home-buyers-loan\/\" \/>\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=\"2026-02-04T12:19:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-06T04:06:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Untitled-design-24.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"563\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alesandra Dubin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@alicedubin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alesandra Dubin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Apply For a First-Time Home Buyers Loan","description":"Mortgage experts walk you through the process; 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