Pull your credit and set a monthly payment you can live with. Then get pre approved, before you tour a single house. That is the order, and almost every first time buyer I talk to in Scottsdale, Phoenix and the East Valley does it backwards. They start on Zillow, fall for a kitchen, and call a lender on a Sunday night hoping the numbers work.

This post is the short, ordered version of our full Arizona first time home buyer guide. Ten steps, in the order they actually happen, with the Arizona numbers that matter at each one. Every figure is sourced and was checked on October 26, 2026.

Why the order matters more than the steps

Every list of home buying steps has the same items on it. Credit, budget, pre approval, agent, offer, inspection, closing. The difference between a smooth first purchase and a stressful one is the sequence.

If you shop before you know your credit, you might be shopping for a loan you cannot get. If you pick a price before you pick a payment, you will stretch. If you write an offer before you are pre approved, a listing agent in Gilbert or Chandler will set your offer aside for the buyer who already has a letter. Each step answers a question the next step depends on.

Credit tells you which loans are open. The loan tells you how much cash you need. The cash and the payment tell you the price. Then you shop.

The 10 steps, in order

1. Pull your credit reports first

Get your free reports at AnnualCreditReport.com and read every account. Dispute anything that is wrong now, because fixing an error takes time you will not have once you are under contract.

Then compare your score to the loan you are likely to use. FHA allows 3.5% down with a credit score of 580 or higher, and 10% down from 500 to 579, per HUD Handbook 4000.1. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide (B3-5.1-01) sets no minimum score for loans run through its automated underwriting system and 620 for manually underwritten fixed rate loans, though most lenders set their own floor. Our post on the credit score you need as a first time buyer in Arizona breaks it down by loan type.

2. Set a budget from the payment, not the price

Pick the monthly number you are comfortable paying. All in. Principal, interest, property tax, homeowners insurance, HOA dues and mortgage insurance. Then work backwards to a price.

Lenders will tell you the most you can borrow. That number is based on your debt to income ratio, and it is a ceiling, not a target. Our guide to the debt to income ratio in Arizona explains how lenders do the math. Your budget should leave room for an August electric bill, a dead water heater and a life.

3. Count your cash to close

Your down payment is only part of the check you write. The minimums by loan type are 0% on VA and USDA for eligible buyers, 3% on conventional 97, HomeReady and Home Possible, and 3.5% on FHA. On top of that come closing costs, which First American's Arizona homebuyer guide says usually run 2 to 6% of the home's price.

First American's Maricopa County examples put the escrow fee with a mortgage at about $1,274 on a $250,000 home and about $1,624 on a $500,000 home, with a lender's title policy of about $916 and $1,365 (rates on transactions closed on or after April 1, 2024). Escrow is typically split with the seller. We walk through the whole check in how much cash you need to buy a house in Arizona.

4. Get pre approved before you tour

A pre approval means a lender has looked at your income, assets and credit and put a number in writing. It tells you your real price range, and it tells a seller you are serious. In a market where Valley sellers are negotiating again, a clean pre approval is leverage.

Pillar Mortgage Group can issue most pre approvals the same day. See how pre approval works with us, and read how long a pre approval lasts so you time it right.

Run your own numbers

5. Choose the loan that fits the house, not the ad

The loan rules are the same statewide, but the limits change by county. The 2026 FHA limit for a one unit home is $557,750 in Maricopa and Pinal counties, $609,500 in Coconino County and $541,287 in every other Arizona county, per HUD's 2026 limits. The 2026 conforming limit for conventional loans is $832,750 in every Arizona county, per the FHFA.

Sources for the table: HUD Handbook 4000.1, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA.gov and USDA Rural Development, all checked October 26, 2026. Check any address on the USDA eligibility map before you assume it qualifies. If you are torn between the first two rows, our FHA vs conventional comparison runs the trade off.

6. Look hard at down payment assistance before you say yes

This is the step where first time buyers get sold something. Blake's take: down payment assistance usually carries a higher rate, so your monthly payment is often higher than a traditional loan. That is my guidance from pricing these loans, not a published statistic, and it is why I lead with FHA at 3.5% and conventional at 3% before anything else.

The facts back up the caution. The Arizona IDA's HOME Plus page says its mortgage rates "may be slightly higher than current industry rates." The assistance is a second lien, forgiven after 60 months, and repaid if you sell or refinance before then. It needs a 620 score. We lay out the full trade in the real cost of down payment assistance in Arizona, and every program is on our Arizona down payment assistance page.

7. Take homebuyer education if your loan requires it

Fannie Mae's 97% LTV FAQs (updated June 5, 2024) say that when every occupying borrower is a first time buyer, at least one must complete homeownership education on a HomeReady loan, or on any purchase above 95% loan to value. Fannie Mae's HomeView course meets the rule. HOME Plus requires one borrower to finish a course before closing. In Tucson, the City and Pima County HOME program requires HUD counseling before you sign a purchase contract, per its June 2026 fact sheet. Not sure if you count as a first time buyer? Read who counts as a first time home buyer.

8. Pick an agent, write the offer, deposit earnest money

Choose an agent who knows your target neighborhoods and knows how your loan type works. Share your pre approval so they search in the right range. You can get a feel for inventory by browsing homes for sale across the Phoenix and Scottsdale area and checking local conditions in the Homes.com Phoenix housing market report.

Once your offer is accepted, you deposit earnest money with escrow. It counts toward your cash to close. Our post on earnest money in Arizona covers how much and when you get it back.

9. Use the inspection period

Hire an inspector the day you go under contract. During the inspection period you can ask the seller for repairs or credits on the Buyer's Inspection Notice and Seller's Response, or cancel under the contract terms. Read the Arizona inspection period and BINSR before you write the offer, not after.

10. Finish underwriting, review your Closing Disclosure, close

The lender orders the appraisal and verifies your file. Answer document requests fast, and do not open new credit or move money without asking first. Our list of what not to do before closing saves deals every month.

Your lender must give you the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before you close, per the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Compare it line by line with your Loan Estimate. Our 3 day rule explainer shows what to look for. Pillar Mortgage Group's average close is 18 days, and as fast as 10.

Three things not to do first

• Do not start with open houses. It is the fun part, which is exactly why it goes last. Fall in love after you know your number.
• Do not open new credit. No new car, no store card, no furniture financing. It changes your debt to income ratio and can drop your score right before you need it.
• Do not move money around without a paper trail. Lenders verify where your down payment came from. Cash deposits and transfers between accounts all need explaining. If family is helping, read our guide to gift funds for a down payment first.

Where a broker fits in

A bank sells its own loans. We are a broker, so we price FHA, conventional, VA and USDA across multiple wholesale lenders and show you the cash to close and payment for each, side by side. That matters most for first time buyers, because the right answer is rarely obvious from one quote. See all of our loan programs, how our process works, and who you will actually talk to on Blake Hermann's page. Or start at pillarmortgagegroup.com.

Sources

Every figure in this post comes from the source named next to it. All sources were checked on October 26, 2026. Pillar Mortgage Group facts (average close, office hours, licensing) come from Pillar Mortgage Group.

1. HUD, Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 (FHA credit score and down payment rules): www.hud.gov
2. HUD No. 25-145, 2026 FHA loan limits, December 11, 2025: hud.gov
3. FHFA, Conforming Loan Limit Values for 2026, November 25, 2025: www.fhfa.gov
4. Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-5.1-01, General Requirements for Credit Scores (cited by name)
5. Fannie Mae, 97% LTV Options FAQs, updated June 5, 2024 (cited by name)
6. First American Title, Homebuyer's guide to closing costs in Arizona (rates on transactions closed on or after April 1, 2024): info.firstam.com
7. Arizona IDA, HOME Plus Down Payment Assistance: homeplusaz.com
8. City of Tucson and Pima County, Down Payment Assistance fact sheet, June 2026: www.tucsonaz.gov
9. CFPB, What is a Closing Disclosure?: www.consumerfinance.gov
10. AnnualCreditReport.com, free credit reports: www.annualcreditreport.com
11. USDA Income and Property Eligibility Site: eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov

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