Ask Patrick is the plain-English answer library for buying a home in San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country.
Every answer on this page is written by Patrick Kevin Fagan, a Texas REALTOR with AXEN Realty LLC and a licensed loan officer with NEXA Lending, so the financing side and the real estate side of the process get answered together instead of in two different languages. In 2025 he closed 23 transactions with roughly $4.3 million in loan volume, and about 75% of the buyers he worked with were first-time homebuyers, the audience this library is built for. That experience goes back 23+ years in loan origination and 19 years in real estate, most of it helping Texas families get from the first question to closing day.
Use the search box at the top to pull up any topic, or browse the categories below. The questions run from the very first one, where do I even start, all the way to what happens on closing day, with pre-approval, down payment assistance, VA loans, inspections, repair negotiations, contracts, appraisals, and multiple-offer strategies in between. The three questions below are the ones that stall the most buyers, answered without the jargon.
How much down payment do I really need?
Most first-time buyers overestimate the cash they need to get started. In Texas, conventional loans can work with as little as 3% down for first-time buyers, FHA loans allow 3.5% with a 580 credit score, and eligible VA buyers can finance with zero down. The number that actually matters is your cash to close, the total you bring on closing day, and that is what the cash to close answer walks through line by line.
If you want to compare programs, the Down Payment Assistance topic collects every answer on grants, income limits, and how assistance works with each loan type. The full down payment breakdown shows what each loan type costs on a real example purchase.
What credit score do I need to buy a home?
There is no single magic number, but your score decides both whether you qualify and what rate you pay. FHA loans can work with scores around 580, conventional loans generally look for a 620, and buyers at 700 or better usually see the best pricing. The 620 guide and the 700 guide spell out each threshold, and the raise your score answer lays out the steps to take before you ever apply.
How much house can I afford?
Your buying power comes from the numbers, not from a wish list: income, monthly debts, down payment, and today’s rate. The fastest way to know what you can shop with is a pre-approval, because it turns those numbers into a concrete figure before you ever tour a home. The affordability answer walks through the payment math and the debt-to-income ratio so you know what fits your budget, not just what underwriting allows.
Browse the Featured Answers below for the questions buyers ask most, or search any topic above. If your question is not covered here yet, ask it directly, and Patrick will answer it personally, on your side.
