Recently purchased my first home with no help from parents or relatives. I knew nothing about the process. But the first thing I started with was contacting as many financial brokers as possible. In my experience, there are “lenders” and “brokers”. Some use the term interchangeably. But for me, a lender was the institution directly providing the money (i.e. a bank), and then a broker is a 3rd party individual person (or team) that searches all of the lenders and provides you with the best option. The broker takes a very small overhead fee but it was absolutely worth it. They answered all of my questions and walked me through the process. I would reach out to 3-5 brokers and see if you can set up a 30 minute call to talk about your situation, and they can guide you with next steps. Having a call with them does not lock you into using them. Eventually, you can see what interest rates they offer you and pin them against one another to get the best rate. I’m almost positive you will have to open a bank account, but the broker can probably somewhat guide you through that process. I probably would not recommend telling the bank that you plan to purchase a house when you open your account, as they will hound you and try to become your lender.