Buying Your First Home: From Dream to Down Payment

Whether you are a new homeowner or just beginning to think about how you will buy your first home, you’ve probably realized you have a lot to learn. From saving for a down payment, to taking advantage of special lending programs for first-time buyers, it’s important to have expert advice and insights from experienced professionals.

In Season 1 of Beginner to Buyer, we walked you through the basics of planning for and buying your first home. With Season 2 we’ll continue to guide you through the home-buying journey. In this first episode podcast host Nadeska Alexis sits down with new and prospective homeowners as well as Chase Home Lending expert Sean Grzebin to give a refresher on the home buying process, and how to navigate what is often one of the biggest and most meaningful purchases in a person’s life.

Nadeska speaks with prospective homebuyer Cheyenne Davis to address some common questions people have as they begin to think about how they can afford to buy a home. They discuss the significance of homeownership for multiple generations of women in Cheyenne’s family and address the realities of student loan debt and saving for a down payment. With this pragmatic perspective they talk about how to enlist the guidance of a home lending expert to determine your budget, as well as how to think about your home priorities from location to amenities. As Nadeska and Cheyenne compare notes and questions, they break down the process of home buying into clear and manageable steps.

To dig into how to take the next steps, Nadeska is joined by Chase Home Lending expert Sean Grzebin, who breaks down the basics of the real estate market, finding out whether you’re dealing with a buyer or seller’s market, and how to know if you’re ready to buy a house. With that understanding, Sean explains how to work with a home lending advisor to figure out how much house you can afford as you begin your search. Sean has great advice and perspective on potential tradeoffs to consider in buying a first home, why your commute matters, and additional costs beyond your down payment- from homeowners insurance to property taxes.

If you’re ready to get serious about your home-buying journey, hearing from Cheyenne, Nadeska, and Sean will help you get a sense of where you are now and what you need to do to take the next steps.

You can read the full transcript on the Chase Website