Wondering If You're Ready To Buy A Home? 5 Questions To Know For Sure
If you've been thinking about making the leap to home ownership, you're probably both excited and nervous. It's a big step, and how can you really know that you're ready to take it? Here are five questions to help you know it's time.
Are You Living Within Your Finances? Getting your financial house in order is step number one toward becoming a responsible home owner. Are you able to pay all your bills with your monthly income? Do you pay off any credit card balances each month? Do you have a little extra at the end of the month that can serve as financial wiggle room? Then you're ready to move on to the next step.
Are You Saving for the Future? Home ownership is part of planning for the future. You want to have a stable roof over your head and build equity, so you should already be making strides to plan for tomorrow. This should include saving for retirement on a continuous basis. Do you have an emergency fund? Have you been saving for the down payment? Then you may be ready for the extra expenses of home ownership.
Have You Calculated the Other Costs? One of the big differences between renting and owning is all the other expenses that come with the mortgage payment. Sit down and do the math to calculate how much you'll likely be paying for things like property taxes, utilities on a larger place, maintenance on the structure, landscape services, and homeowners insurance. Talk to other home owners in the area for more specific details.
Are You Stable in the Area? Of course, not everything about home ownership is all about the finances. You should also know that you're going to be staying in the area for the foreseeable future. Do you plan to be there for around seven to ten years? While you can't plan for life-changing events that may occur, if you're not fully convinced that this is where you want to be for several years, you may want to wait before buying property.
How is the Market? External forces may make it a better or worse time to buy a home. For example, if your chosen area is suffering from a drought of homes and resulting high prices, you may want to wait until things calm down and prices settle. On the other hand, if there are a lot of available homes, prices will be better than when stock is low. And areas where apartment prices continue to rise exorbitantly make purchasing a long-term bargain as well.
Have you answered all these questions with positive responses? Congratulations, you may be a perfect candidate for home ownership. Your next step is to talk with an experienced home mortgages lender today. And then you can start your next chapter tomorrow.