As some of you know, my husband and I recently got married last May. One of the next steps we would like to do together as a married couple is to purchase a house. I think one of the quintessential American dreams is that of owning your own home. It gives a sense of accomplishment as well knowing that you are coming home to something that is yours. In the next couple of months, I will explore a series about how I am learning about how to buy a house for the first time. I hope that we can answer some of the following questions together:

• Should we continue to rent or should we buy a house?
• What are our needs, desires and deal breakers in our future home?
• How much money should we have for a down payment?
• What is primary mortgage insurance?
• Should we use a realtor to help us in our search?
• Should we shop around for mortgage lenders?
• What does our credit score and history need to look like to qualify to purchase a home?
• What other options do we have?

These and many more questions will be answered over the next few months. You'll be able to find this post and more under the Categories tab under Home Ownership! I'm looking forward to taking this journey with our Plan Well, Retire Well readers and look forward to comments, questions and discussion. In the meantime, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently released an online tool called Owning a Home. It is a great start and may help anyone who is currently looking for their first home. Until next month!

Sasha