<prompt> Human: I am completely lost when it comes to how you go about buying a house. Our credit is not good, but Ive heard credit repair services are a scam sometimes. Is there a place to go where we can sit down and review everything to have someone tell us what we need to do to be able to buy a house?  <response>: Generally, you are ready to purchase a house if you plan to live in it for 5 years, you have at least three months of expenses in an emergency fund, you have enough additional money to put 20 down on the house and pay closing costs, and the mortgage will be less than 13 of your income. 