The FIrst-Time Homebuyer Roadmap

Buying your first home can feel exciting one minute and completely overwhelming the next.

The First-Time Homebuyer Roadmap gives you one place to keep track of the numbers, questions and decisions that come up when you're buying your first home. Written by veteran real estate journalist and former REALTOR® Bridget McCrea, this hands-on workbook takes you from the early "Am I ready?" stage through financing, house hunting, inspections and closing day.

Inside, you'll find worksheets, checklists and decision guides to help you:

→ Decide if this is the right time to buy a house

→ Compare your current housing costs with the full cost of homeownership

→ Use AI tools and automation to compare scenarios, organize information and save time

→ Estimate a comfortable price range and prepare for mortgage preapproval

→ Compare property types, neighborhoods and homes

→ Explore co-buying with a friend, sibling or partner, including how to handle the money, ownership, responsibilities and exit plan

→ Set your house-hunting priorities and keep tour details straight

→ Put together a strong offer that covers the sales price, earnest money and contingencies

→ Prepare for inspections, evaluate repair concerns and keep the process moving

→ Get your homeowners insurance, title reports and buyer protections in order

→ Understand your Closing Disclosure and get ready for closing day

Every chapter includes straightforward explanations, common homebuying terms and space to record your own numbers, priorities, questions and next steps. You can also share pages with your real estate agent, lender, attorney or co-buyer when it's time to make a decision.

The book explains each stage of the process and gives you room to apply the information to your own purchase instead of filling pages with generic prompts. As the hands-on companion to The Homebuyer's Question & Answer Book and I'm Buying My First Home. Now What?, this workbook can be used from beginning to end or opened to the section that fits where you are in the process.