My first step was to do research about mortgages and homebuying. What is PMI? What is the difference between conventional and FHA? What are points? What type of problems are dealbreakers when considering a home? Also things specific to your area like school district and neighborhoods (talk to friends/family/coworkers/neighbors in your area). That and more was all stuff I had to learn. Read some threads on here, and when you see a term or scenario you don't understand, look it up and learn about it.
Second step was to decide what I wanted in a home. New or existing? Style of home? How many bedrooms? How many baths? Big yard or small? garage? How many cars? anything I absolutely had to have? anything I wanted but could live without?
Third step was to make a new budget with the expenses of owning a home versus my expenses as a renter. Played around with it a bit to see what I could afford in a monthly payment for my mortgage. Once I had this figured out I went back to step 2 and see if these were aligning. Looked at some home listings online and did some calculations. Can I afford the house I want? (online mortgage calculators were very helpful here) Also other financial planning like how much money do I have saved, how much can I spend to close on a home, how much can I set aside for an emergency fund.
So those were all things I did before even calling a bank or real estate agent. I'm sure others will be of better help about actually shopping for and finding the right mortgage. But I think the things listed above are also very important to starting your path to buying a home.
