SHAPE UP Start saving. Now. Stash your cash someplace safe, like a money-market mutual fund. Check your credit score, the number lenders live by, at myfico.com. Figure out how much house you can afford at bankrate.com.
BE REALISTIC Make a dream-house wish list, then a reality list of the things you can’t live without, says Ilyce Glink, author of “100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask.” Start shopping on realtor.com. Get a broker who does a lot of business in your neighborhood of choice.
GET THE CASH Don’t stress about a 20 percent down payment; the market is flooded with mortgages that let you put down 5 percent or less. Mortgages themselves are on sale right now; shop sites like quickenloan.com, eloan.com and lendingtree.com. Check with www.hud.govfor first-time home-buyer programs like tax breaks, down-payment loans and grants from housing nonprofits. But hurry. You may be old and gray before mortgage rates are this low again.
