Smart people who consider those questions—and more—every day respond with these seven pieces of practical advice. 

1. Get a real pre-approval

Too many buyers are shopping, armed with only a number from an online calculator that provides a top-level estimate of what you might qualify for, says independent mortgage broker Ron Butler, who services clients in the Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa, Vancouver and Calgary. “But a true pre-approval is actually a sophisticated process, requiring the detailed attention of a potential lender,” he says. And, “that will depend on your credit score, a thorough analysis of your income and the nature of your down payment, among other factors.” 

And keep in mind that “while you may be approved to buy, the house you want to buy may not,” he adds. Before advancing the mortgage funds, the lender must OK the deal—an “inescapable” part of the buying process. If you’re serious about making an offer, get a lender to run your numbers in detail, to confirm what you can actually spend with confidence—and understand that the house or condo, too, must pass muster for the deal to work. That is, if the lender doesn’t feel the property you want is worth the price you’re willing to pay, they may decline to advance the funds you need. 

2. Know your numbers

First-time buyers are the most likely to have small down payments, notes Butler, and that can often mean they are stretched thin to get into a home. But don’t stretch so much that you’re left with no wiggle room. 

That means not skipping out on the house inspection. “If you only have 5% down, and you stretched to pull it together, you can’t afford a house with unknown problems that come to light after you buy”—because you don’t have enough money to fix them. And houses develop problems over time; that’s in their nature. You’re going to have leaks, breaks and unavoidable maintenance and repairs. Condos, for their part, come with maintenance fees “that never go backwards,” he comments, so “a deal that only works if your costs never rise is a deal that’s pretty much doomed to fail.” 

In order to make a home-buying situation work, you need to make sure you have resources available to handle the inevitable extra costs that come with home ownership. Those resources might be in the form of additional savings that you’ve set aside (instead of using them as part of your down payment), or you might create wiggle room by earmarking part of your monthly income to handle both routine and unexpected extra costs, from property taxes to maintenance and repairs. 

In short: If it takes everything you’ve got to hit the minimum 5% down payment and meet regular mortgage payments, it’s likely that home ownership should probably go on the back burner until you’re able to create more breathing room in your budget. 

3. Don’t let FOMO be your main motivation

“It’s very common that I talk to hopeful buyers who say some version of, ‘If I don’t buy now, I’ll be shut out of the market forever.’” But buying decisions can’t only be based on the fear of missing out, or FOMO, says Butler. 

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