Many people feel that they should think about buying a home once they reach a certain age or stage in life. Some people are ready for the commitment, but others aren’t. Before you leap into a major purchase, you should consider whether or not you’re ready. If you’re on the fence, here are a few helpful tips that may help you decide if buying a home is for you:
• Can you make a financial commitment? It doesn’t matter where you are in life: you can’t buy a home unless you can get a loan or pay in cash. Check your credit scores, take a hard look at your debt-to-income ratio and make sure you’re financially stable. Banks will want to know all that and more – so make sure you’re rock-solid before you think about buying a home.
• Budgeting and you. Are you the type of person who tracks each expenditure on a complex spreadsheet? Or are you more likely to “wing it” and spend without thinking? If you’re more like that, then you may want to hold off on buying a home. Owning a home requires being able to budget. Not only will you have a mortgage payment to worry about, you may be looking at increased utilities and maintenance fees.
• Can you stay put? For most people, it takes at least three years simply to recover the cost of buying a home. If you think you might get a promotion or are thinking about going back to school, a home may tie you down. However, if you’re relatively stable, then a home is a great option for you.
• Talk with a real estate agent. If you can find a local real estate agent, they may be willing to sit down and talk with you about buying a home. A real estate agent can give you information you might not be able to find online – after all, they know the local market better than anybody else.
There are many considerations that go into making such a major purchase. If you’ve thought about the practical side of owning a home, then you can proceed with confidence. Don’t feel that you “have to” buy a home at a certain time in life – rather, focus on your own personal situation and what’s right for you, right now.
