Expert Advice for First-Time Home Buyers Since 2006

Since 2006, the Home Buying Institute (HBI) has helped first-time buyers in the U.S. make informed purchasing decisions. Our mission is to provide objective, accurate and helpful information about the home buying and mortgage process.

Download Our Home Buying Guide

First-time home buyers need access to trustworthy information and guidance on a wide range of topics. But getting that kind of information online can be a timely chore.

Additionally, you might encounter "educational" websites that actually profit from you buying a home in a certain area or choosing a certain mortgage product.

For all of these reasons and more, we offer the 2024 First-Time Home Buying Guide.

We created this resource to help you better understand the mortgage and home buying process. Our e-books also help to fund our publishing efforts, keeping the HBI website free from advertisements and third-party influence.

Featured Guides for First-Time Buyers

In addition to the handbook mentioned above, we also maintain a knowledge base with dozens of guides related to the home buying process and mortgage loans.

10 Steps to Buying Your First Home
Whyen it comes to buying a home, many first-time buyers don't know where to begin or how to proceed. This guide is a great place to start. It breaks the process down into a series of 10 steps, with expert advice for each of those steps.

Mortgage Options for First-Time Buyers
ARM. Fixed. FHA. Conventional. You have a lot of mortgage choices when buying your first home. And we've got the information you need to make a smart decision. Check out this mortgage guide to learn more about your financing options.

Our Story: Helping First-Time Buyers Since 2006

We have been publishing home-buying tips, tutorials and news since 2006. The Home Buying Institute began as an email newsletter service in the early 2000s, before launching this website in 2006.

That's more than 17 years of trustworthy advice and guidance for buyers.

Today, HBI is one of the most frequently visited and widely cited websites catering to home buyers and mortgage shoppers in the U.S.

Disclaimers: When reporting on U.S. housing market trends, we often cite third-party forecasts, predictions, etc. Such forecasts are the equivalent of an educated guess and should be treated as such. No one can predict the future of the housing market with total accuracy. HBI makes no claims or assertions about future real estate conditions.