Smart Money Moves To Make Now if You Want To Buy a Home in 2026

As we enter the final weeks of 2025, the new year brings a clean slate for setting goals—and if homeownership is one of them, it’s never too early to get your finances in order.

The experts we spoke to suggest talking to a mortgage lender to truly understand where you stand with your finances and what you need to do before you start house hunting.

"Six months to a year before you expect to buy is appropriate and will set you up to build a relationship and allow your lender the opportunity to get creative with you, so you can purchase a home in 2026," Jake Vehige, president of mortgage lending at Neighbors Bank, tells Realtor.com®.

With mortgage interest rates for a 30-year fixed home loan averaging 6.19% for the week ending Dec. 4, it's enticing potential buyers who have been sitting on the sidelines to consider investing in a home.

But many more factors come into play beyond the down payment.

Melanie Musson, insurance expert at Clearsurance, tells Realtor.com that while it's important to get pre-approved by a mortgage lender, that's just the beginning.

"You shouldn’t take your pre-approval as the amount you need to budget for, but it can give you a starting point. From there, you need to decide how much you can afford," Musson explains.

She offers up this advice for future homebuyers:

• Build up your savings so you can make a bigger down payment or make changes to the house you buy.

• Pay off debt to improve your debt-to-income ratio.

• Check your credit score to make sure it’s where it should be, and there isn’t any information that needs to be disputed.

Check your credit

Credit scores vary depending on how a person manages debt. The higher the credit score, the better the mortgage rate a consumer can secure.

The average credit score in the U.S. is 715, according to FICO's Score Credit Insights report.

A conventional loan, such as a 30-year fixed mortgage, requires a minimum credit score of 620.

If a credit score is low, government-backed loans allow more flexibility. For example, a Federal Housing Administration loan requires a minimum credit score of 500, if you make a 10% down payment on your home purchase. If you put down less than that, the minimum credit score required goes up to 580.

Mortgage lenders will help you navigate if you have a low credit score.

"Look for partners that have experience with low to moderate incomes, experience with multiple types of loans, and fit your style," says Vehige. "The right lender will see the potential in your unique financial situation and become a partner in your goal to be a homeowner this year."

If you rent and are ready to make the move to homeownership, your payment history can play a role, too.

"If you are a renter, you can significantly boost your credit score by reporting your monthly on-time rent payments," Ryan Barone, co-founder and CEO of RentRedi, tells Realtor.com.

"Since rent payments are typically your largest expense, using a rent reporting service is probably the fastest way to improve credit scores. Higher scores can then improve your chances of qualifying for loans and accessing better rates, especially if you're a younger consumer with a shorter credit history."

Savings advice

It's understandable to feel stressed or nervous about buying a home, but outlining how much or how little you have saved will start you on your path to reaching your goals.

"There are options that require minimal savings. You can request that the seller pay closing costs. You can opt for a low down payment. You may even qualify for no down payment," says Musson. "Save what you can, but you don’t have to delay buying a house if you haven’t saved as much as you'd like."

"A home purchase, especially your first, is a big deal. Nerves are understandable. We know how many acronyms are thrown at you throughout, too," says Vehige.

He explains that his bank, like other financial institutions, will help to find grant programs, deferred-payment loans, and low-interest loans.

"At Neighbors Bank, the majority of our clients take advantage of these options to have a lower down payment," says Vehige. "Don't go through the education process alone. Have a lender alongside you. Much less anxiety-inducing than going down an online rabbit hole."