The First-Time Buyer's Guide to Salt Lake and Davis County
Written for somebody who has never done this, by an agent who is also a licensed lender.
You are allowed to not know any of this
The hardest part of buying your first house is that everyone involved talks as though you already understand it. Earnest money, appraisal gaps, contingencies, underwriting conditions, all delivered at speed by people who forgot these were ever unfamiliar words.
You are allowed to ask the same question twice. This guide is the version nobody gave me, written for somebody doing it the first time.
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1. What you can afford is not one number
A pre-approval gives you a maximum. It is not a recommendation, and the gap between those two is where first-time buyers get into trouble.
The number that matters is the monthly payment with taxes and insurance included, against what you want the rest of your life to look like. Being approved for a figure does not make spending it a good idea.
I am licensed as a mortgage lender as well as an agent, which means we can work through this properly: what different loan types do to your payment, what a lower down payment actually costs over time, and whether paying points makes sense for how long you plan to stay. Those are not sales questions. They are arithmetic, and the answers are different for everybody.
2. Every cost, and when it lands
Your down payment is not the only cash you need, and finding that out the week before closing is a bad experience nobody should have.
Earnest money goes in shortly after your offer is accepted and shows you are serious. It usually counts toward your cash at closing. The inspection you pay for during your inspection window, and it is the worst place in the entire transaction to save money. The appraisal is ordered by your lender. Closing costs arrive at the end and are sometimes negotiable, and sometimes a seller contributes.
You will get the full picture in writing before you look at a single house, including which of these are negotiable and roughly what each one runs here.
Utah has had down payment assistance and first-time buyer programmes, and they come and go. Whether any fit you depends on your income, the loan and the property, so it is worth actually checking rather than assuming you do not qualify.
3. The process, from today to keys
Before you look: a free consultation, a pre-approval, and a clear picture of what exists in your range. Looking at houses before this is how people fall in love with something they cannot write an offer on.
Finding it: this is the part that varies most and nobody can promise you a timeline. What I can do is tell you what is actually wrong with a house, how long it has really been sitting, and what the last buyer walked away from. That comes from calling the listing agent and asking, which is ordinary work a surprising number of agents skip.
The offer: price is one term among several. Timing, contingencies and how the offer is presented often matter more, particularly when you are not the highest number on the table.
Under contract: inspection, appraisal, underwriting, and a final walkthrough. The inspection is where a deal gets better or falls apart, and it is a negotiation rather than a formality.
4. How to win without overpaying
Buyers assume the highest number wins. Often it does not, and when a seller has two or three offers the difference is usually the terms.
A closing timeline that matches what the seller actually needs. Contingencies you keep or shorten deliberately, knowing what each one costs you in risk. Financing that looks solid to a listing agent reading it at a glance, which is where being able to speak to the lending side directly does real work.
What you should not do is remove protections you do not understand because somebody told you it makes the offer stronger. It does, and it can also cost you your deposit.
5. The first house does not have to be forever
A lot of first-time buyers stall because they are trying to choose a house they will still want in twenty years. That is a heavy thing to ask of a first purchase and it is usually the wrong frame.
Most people move within about a decade. The question worth asking is whether this house works for the next several years and whether it holds its value well enough to get you into the next one. That is a much easier question and it is answerable.
If you would rather learn all of this without talking to an agent yet, the buyer seminars are free and there is no pitch. Plenty of people come to one, go away for a year, and come back when they are ready. That is a completely normal way to do this.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do I need for a down payment?
Less than most people assume. There are loan programmes with low down payment requirements, and Utah has had assistance programmes that come and go. What applies to you depends on your income, the loan and the property.
What credit score do I need?
It depends on the loan type, and the score affects your rate as much as your approval. If your score is what stands in the way, that is often fixable in a few months, and knowing which months matters.
Should I wait for rates to drop?
Nobody can tell you where rates are going, and anyone who says they can is guessing. What can be planned for is what happens if they do drop, which is a conversation about refinancing rather than a reason to wait.
Do I have to use you as my lender too?
No. Many clients do because it removes a handoff, and you are never required to. If you would rather use your own lender that is completely fine and I work with them the same way.
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