Buying your first home is a huge milestone in any person’s life. Homeownership comes with major responsibility and freedoms that don’t come with renting. For this reason, it’s important that you’re sure you’re ready before making an offer on a home. In a seller’s market, it’s particularly important that you’re sure you’re ready to take the plunge into homeownership before making that bid. Many companies such as The Chicago Home can help you in finding your dream luxurious home to stay. For four ways to tell if you’re ready to buy your first home, read on.
1. You’re financially secure.
The number one way to know you’re ready to buy a home is if you are financially secure. Being financially secure means you have a stable job that you’ve held for at least two years and six months of savings that you could use in the event of an emergency. On top of having these things, the general rule is that you’ll want at least ten percent of the price you hope to pay for a home in your savings, too. If you’re a first time home buyer in the United States, you’ll have the option of applying for an FHA loan which could mean you need less money down on your home purchase.
One great way to know if you’re ready financially for the responsibility of a home is to contact a bank for a pre-approval letter. By sharing your finances with a bank, they’ll be able to give you an honest answer about whether you are in the financial position to be approved for a home loan. From credit score and age to income ratio and more, a lender will give you a clear picture of where you stand in the buying process.
Maybe you live in North Carolina and have considered calling a Blowing Rock NC real estate agent to begin looking at homes. While it’s a good idea to know the market and get a clear picture of what’s out there, most buyers can’t make a bid on a house or condo without a pre-approval letter. This reason alone is a good one to talk to a potential lender before falling in love with a home with the right amount of acres, the perfect number of bathrooms, or that overlooks a place you’ve always dreamed about living close to.
2. Your lifestyle involves routine and consistency.
If you have a consistent job and money in the bank but spend more time on the road than in your apartment or other living arrangement, you might want to wait on buying a home. For some people, spending time travelling to the high country, visiting Capitol Reef National Park, searching out the perfect picnic areas on rock formations, and exploring the world are a bigger priority than buying a luxury home. If you’re someone who loves to travel, and you know you won’t spend a lot of time at home with scenic byways calling your name, it might be a better idea to wait to buy a home after you’ve completed that bucket list of traveling across the U.S. to see all the national parks or exploring Wayne Wonderland.
Maybe you love nature and dream of planting friendly plants in your own backyard. In a seller’s market, it could be a better idea to wait until home prices stabilize before making the leap into homeownership. Those plants will need watering and come with responsibility. For now, you could be better off exploring the world from a rustic lodge, campground, or the Gifford Homestead. Later, when homes are more affordable, you could use a new home as a base for your travels and even find property close enough to a national park for short hikes through the backcountry.
3. You’re ready for responsibility and have clear long-term goals.
Before buying a home and taking on the responsibility that comes with it, you’ll want clear goals for the next five years. If you can honestly say you think about getting pet-friendly plants on a property you own with direct sunlight, you might be ready to make a bid. Buying a house on a whim is never a good idea. Instead, your best option might be to create a list of things you plan to do in the future and see if owning a home fits in with those plans. For example, if your focus will be your career, having a home base you feel comfortable in will help you achieve that goal. If you don’t know where you hope to be in a year, it might be a better idea to wait before buying a home, giving you more freedom to alter or create new goals.
4. You can’t stop thinking about buying a home.
Most homebuyers think about buying a home for years before they actually make a bid. It can take years to save up for that down payment and a lot of research is often involved in making that final decision. You’ll know you’re ready to buy a home when your free time is spent watching the market, and you can’t stop thinking about how to buy a home and the type of home you want to live in.
If you’re ready to buy a home, consider doing it soon. With the real estate market showing no signs of slowing down in the United States, now is a great time to join millions of homeowners who use their property to build equity that will pay off in their futures. Start with calling a real estate agent, getting a loan preapproval, and bookmarking those real estate pages. Soon enough, you could be spending free time learning about decorating and transforming your backyard into the perfect oasis for you and your family or pets. Happy house hunting to you!
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