Think You Can't Afford a House in Amarillo? You're Probably Closer Than You Think
- Kris Anderson
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
If you've ever pulled up Zillow, looked at a listing, done the math in your head, and thought "there's no way I qualify for that," you're not alone — and there's a good chance you're wrong.
I'm Kris Anderson, a mortgage loan officer with BOC Bank, and I work with buyers across Texas. But today I want to talk specifically to my neighbors here in Amarillo, because the truth is, most people who think they're not ready to buy a home are only missing three pieces of information: credit, income, and down payment. Once you understand how lenders actually look at these three things, you'll know where you stand instead of guessing.
Who This Is For
This is for you if:
You've never bought a home before and aren't sure where to start
You've been renting and wondering if it's finally time
You tried to buy a year or two ago and got discouraged
A lot of the "you need X to buy a house" advice floating around out there is outdated or simply incorrect. Every lender — regardless of the bank — is generally evaluating the same three things when determining what you qualify for. Let's walk through each one.
1. Credit: Clearing Up the Myths
Credit is usually the part that scares people off first, so let's address a few common myths.
Myth: You need a 750 credit score to buy a house. Not true. Depending on the loan program, qualifying credit score requirements can be considerably lower than most people assume. The exact number varies by loan type and program, so rather than guessing, it's worth having a real conversation about where your score actually falls.
Myth: Checking your own credit or getting pre-approved will hurt your score. That's not how it works. A soft credit pull to see where you stand typically costs you nothing in terms of your score.
Myth: You need to have zero debt to qualify. Also not true. What matters more than the raw amount of debt you carry is how that debt compares to your income — which brings us to the next piece.
Bottom line: don't assume your credit disqualifies you before you've actually looked at it with a loan officer.
2. Income & Debt-to-Income Ratio (DTI)
The second piece is income — or more specifically, how your income compares to your monthly debt obligations. This is called your debt-to-income ratio (DTI), and it's arguably the single number that influences more mortgage decisions than anything else.
Here's the simple version: lenders generally add up your monthly debt payments — car payment, minimum credit card payments, student loans, and your prospective house payment — and compare that total to your gross monthly income. Most loan programs allow more flexibility in this ratio than people expect, especially with certain first-time buyer programs.
The biggest misconception: that you need to be debt-free to buy a home. You don't. What matters is the balance between what you earn and what you owe each month, and that balance is often more fixable than people realize — sometimes paying down one specific card, rather than eliminating all debt, is enough to shift your DTI in the right direction.
3. Down Payment: The Biggest Myth of All
If there's one myth that stops more people from even starting the conversation, it's this one: "You need 20% down to buy a house."
That 20% figure comes from conventional loan programs trying to avoid mortgage insurance — it is not a universal rule, and it is absolutely not the only path to homeownership.
There are loan programs built specifically around lower down payments, with some government-backed programs allowing down payments in the low single digits. On top of that, Texas offers down payment assistance programs — through the state and through local programs — that can help cover some or all of a down payment and closing costs for buyers who qualify. (We'll dig deeper into those specific programs in an upcoming video — stay tuned if that's the piece holding you back.)
For most first-time buyers, 20% down is simply not the requirement it's assumed to be.
Your Homebuyer Readiness Checklist
You don't need perfect answers on all three fronts — just a general sense of where you stand:
Credit — Do you have an active credit history, and are your payments generally on time?
Income vs. debt — Is your income steady, and are your monthly debts generally manageable relative to what you bring home?
Down payment — Do you have some savings, even if it's not 20%? Assistance programs can often help bridge the rest.
If you can answer "kind of" to all three, it's genuinely worth having a real conversation with a loan officer — rather than relying on secondhand advice from friends or the internet.
A Quick Word on the Amarillo Market
As of this writing, the median home price in Amarillo sits at roughly $250,000.00, and the local market has been shifting toward more balanced conditions — meaning buyers generally have more room to negotiate than in recent years. That doesn't mean prices are low, but it does mean this is a reasonable time to start the readiness conversation rather than continuing to wait on the sidelines.
What to Do Next
If you read this whole post and you're thinking "okay, but where do I actually stand?" — that's exactly what a pre-approval conversation is for, and it typically costs nothing to find out. Reach out, and let's run your actual numbers instead of guessing.
Kris Anderson Mortgage Loan Officer, BOC Bank NMLS# 1201276 | Equal Housing Lender Text: 806-547-3733 Call: 806-322-1413 Email: kris@bocbanking.com
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