First-Time Buyer in Palm Beach County: The Order of Operations

Buying your first home is less about finding the perfect house and more about doing things in the right order. Get the order wrong and you can fall in love with a home you can't yet make an offer on, or discover an association fee after you've signed. Get it right and each step makes the next one easier.

First-time buyers are one of my specialties at Safebound Realty, and this is the sequence I walk people through in Palm Beach County. Save it, share it, and text me with questions at any point along the way.

1. Talk to a lender before you talk about houses

A pre-approval tells you what you can borrow and tells sellers you're serious. Just as important, a good lender will look at your whole picture: savings, income, credit and the monthly payment you're comfortable with, which is not always the same as the maximum a bank will lend. Ask your lender, too, which state and county assistance programs they participate in. That question matters in step 3.

2. Build a budget that includes the Florida extras

The mortgage payment is only part of the monthly cost. In Palm Beach County, plan for:

• Association dues, if the home is in an HOA or condominium, and sometimes a master association on top.
• Homeowners insurance. Wind-mitigation features such as roof strength, roof-to-wall connections and protected openings qualify for discounts or credits that Florida law requires insurers to offer, according to the Office of Insurance Regulation.
• Flood. FEMA's Flood Map Service Center lets you look up any address, and it's worth doing before you fall for a house.
• Property taxes. Florida requires every buyer to be told not to rely on the seller's current property taxes, because a sale can change the assessment. Tax bills in Palm Beach County are mailed by November 1, with discounts for paying early (4 percent in November, stepping down to 1 percent in February) and taxes becoming delinquent on April 1.

3. Check the assistance programs, and check the dates

Florida Housing Finance Corporation lists several programs for homebuyers, including the Florida Homebuyer Loan Program (a 30-year fixed first mortgage for first-time buyers), FL Assist, the FL HLP Second Mortgage, HFA Preferred and Advantage PLUS, and Florida Hometown Heroes.

Hometown Heroes is aimed at first-time, income-qualified buyers who work full-time in Florida in listed fields, including health care, school staff, first responders, public safety and courts, and child care, as well as active military and veterans. Florida Housing describes it as up to 5 percent of the first mortgage, with a minimum of $10,000 and a maximum of $35,000, structured as a 0 percent, 30-year deferred second mortgage that is not forgivable.

Locally, the Housing Finance Authority of Palm Beach County lists an Own a Home Opportunity Program with a 0 percent soft second mortgage of up to $17,500, due on sale, refinance or after 30 years, along with a grant program that doesn't require first-time buyer status. Palm Beach County also ran a Homebuyer Match Pilot in 2026 that offered up to $50,000 as a dollar-for-dollar match. Its application window, March 30 to April 20, 2026, is closed, but it's a good example of how county programs open in short windows.

4. Sign a buyer agreement before we tour

Since August 17, 2024, agents who belong to an MLS and work with a buyer must have a written agreement with that buyer before touring a home. The agreement has to state the agent's compensation as a specific, objectively ascertainable amount or rate, not something open-ended, and the agent can't receive more than that from any source. Offers of compensation can no longer be published on the MLS, although compensation can still be negotiated off it.

Florida adds one more layer: licensees are presumed to be transaction brokers unless a single-agent or no-brokerage relationship is set up in writing. I'll walk you through our agreement line by line before you sign anything, so you know exactly what you're agreeing to and how I'm paid.

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The right order turns a stressful purchase into a series of manageable decisions.

5. Shortlist places, not just houses

Before we look at listings, we narrow the map. Palm Beach County stretches from coastal cities on the Atlantic to western communities like Wellington, and the same budget buys a very different daily life in each. My community guides cover eight areas, starting with Wellington, West Palm Beach and Boynton Beach, and I'm happy to talk through the trade-offs of each. If schools matter to you, the School District of Palm Beach County's Find My School tool is the official source for which schools serve an address.

6. Tour, then make an offer with the papers in mind

When you find the one, we write an offer, and Florida's disclosure rules kick in:

• HOA communities. You must receive the association's disclosure summary before you sign the contract. If you don't, you can void the contract within 3 days of receiving it or before closing, whichever comes first.
• Condominiums. The seller must provide the declaration, bylaws and rules, the budget and financial statement, the milestone inspection summary and the most recent structural integrity reserve study where they apply, plus the FAQ sheet. You then have 7 days, not counting weekends and holidays, to cancel.
• Every home. You'll receive the property tax disclosure and a radon notice at or before the contract.

7. Inspections, insurance and the flood check

Once you're under contract, the inspection period is when we learn the house. Book the home inspection quickly, ask about a wind-mitigation inspection if there isn't a recent one, and start insurance quotes right away. In Florida, insurance can shape a deal as much as price, so I'd rather you have real numbers early than a surprise late.

8. Estoppel, title and closing

If the home is in an association, an estoppel certificate confirms what the seller owes the association. By statute it must be delivered within 10 business days of the request, and it stays valid for 30 days if delivered by hand or electronically, or 35 days if mailed. Who pays for the owner's title insurance policy is negotiated and set in your contract, so we'll decide that together at the offer stage. Then comes the closing table and the keys.

9. After closing: file for homestead

If the home is your permanent residence, you can apply for Florida's homestead exemption with the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser. You need to be a Florida permanent resident, hold title and live in the home as your permanent residence as of January 1, and file by March 1. You can file online, at one of five service centers or by mail. The exemption is $25,000 on the first $50,000 of assessed value plus an additional exemption on assessed value above $50,000 (up to $25,722 for 2025) that doesn't apply to school taxes. Once you have it, Save Our Homes caps annual increases in your assessed value at 3 percent or the change in CPI, whichever is lower.

Where to start

Start with the lender, then text me. We'll go through your budget, your shortlist and your timeline together. My buying page explains how I work with buyers, and my FAQ page answers the questions that come up most. If you're moving here from somewhere else, the relocation guide covers the practical side of settling in.

Sources · 19

1. NAR: Settlement FAQs (written buyer agreements) · viewed September 27, 2026
2. Florida Statutes s. 475.278: brokerage relationships · viewed September 27, 2026
3. Florida Housing Finance Corporation: Homebuyer programs · viewed September 27, 2026
4. Florida Housing Finance Corporation: Hometown Heroes · viewed September 27, 2026
5. Palm Beach County Housing & Economic Development: Homebuyer Match Pilot Program · viewed September 27, 2026
6. Housing Finance Authority of Palm Beach County: Owners & Renters · viewed September 27, 2026
7. Florida Statutes s. 720.401: HOA disclosure summary · viewed September 27, 2026
8. Florida Statutes s. 718.503: condominium resale disclosures · viewed September 27, 2026
9. Florida Statutes s. 689.261: property tax disclosure · viewed September 27, 2026
10. Florida Statutes s. 404.056: radon disclosure · viewed September 27, 2026
11. Florida Office of Insurance Regulation: Wind Mitigation Resources · viewed September 27, 2026
12. FEMA Flood Map Service Center · viewed September 27, 2026
13. Florida Statutes s. 720.30851: HOA estoppel certificates · viewed September 27, 2026
14. Florida Statutes s. 718.116: condominium estoppel certificates · viewed September 27, 2026
15. Palm Beach County Property Appraiser: Homestead Exemption · viewed September 27, 2026
16. Palm Beach County Tax Collector: Property Tax · viewed September 27, 2026
17. Florida Senate: CS/HJR 1F (2026F) enrolled text · viewed September 27, 2026
18. Florida House: CS/HJR 1F bill history · viewed September 27, 2026
19. School District of Palm Beach County: Find My School · viewed September 27, 2026