First Home

Whether you're a first-time home buyer or feel like homeownership is out of reach for you, this comprehensive and richly photographed guide to buying and renovating a house will empower and teach you to take that important leap.

To iO Tillett Wright, home is the center of everything—calm, safety, nourishment, family, community, creativity—and it's also the key to obtaining financial stability and generational wealth. Unfortunately, too many adults have felt left out of the home ownership conversation, including iO, who became the first person in his immediate family to hold a mortgage. After buying his first house—a fixer-upper that needed a lot of work—he learned all about renovation loans and the ins and outs of cash-out refinance, which jump-started his journey of gut renovations on eight other homes.

In First Home, iO shares his expertise and walks you through everything you need to think about when it comes to home ownership—from saving up for a down payment to inspecting the home to budgeting for renovations. And if you don't think you have what it takes to be competitive in the real estate market, he reveals ways you can still buy a home, even when you lack a 20% down payment or good credit. 

This essential guide offers a soup-to-nuts approach to buying and owning a home, breaking down different mortgages to look into, conversations you'll want to have with your realtor, renovation projects anyone can tackle, and interior design details that will make the space your own. Throughout, a team of experts in finance, realty, inspection, construction, and interior design helps demystify the process, and iO walks you through real homes of owners who once felt the American Dream was out of reach for them.

With more than 200 stunning, full-color photographs of homes across the country, First Home is the ultimate resource for anyone who ever thought owning a home would be forever out of reach.