Are you on the move? If you’re like any home buyer you may feel overwhelmed by the deluge of buying information available both online and offline. Keeping a few fundamentals in mind can ease your buying anxiety quickly. Home buyers need an intelligent, practical strategy in place to find the right match.
Follow these 4 tips to buy a new home.
Stop! Stay Where You Are
Unless you absolutely need to buy a new home stick around for a while. If you need to change locations for work or some other pressing need feel free to go forward with your move but if you absolutely don’t need to buy a home now think through why you want the new digs. Make sure you can commit to living in your new home for at least 2 to 3 years. Transaction costs and falling prices may eat into your savings and overall net worth at an alarming pace. Be diligent and be disciplined to see if you’re in a buyer’s or seller’s market and be honest with yourself. Unless you’re prepared to make a full commitment to living in your new home for a few years simply stay put.
Get Your Credit Game in Order
Get your credit game in order before buying a new home. Pay off any debts. Clean up your credit history because if you’re like most people you’ll need to get a mortgage for your new home purchase. Acquire copies of your credit report before you get down into the nitty gritty of your home shopping campaign. Get your financial shop in order to free up your capital for your big ticket purchase. Do a fact checking mission on your credit report too. Make sure everything is accurate before you go to the bank to get your mortgage.
Be Realistic
You likely want a new home with all the bells and whistles. If you hear that voice in the back of your head which tells you to treat yourself think long and hard before you make an extravagant purchase. You’ll likely regret the move for many years as you pay sky high mortgage rates for a home you can’t afford. Buy a home that is about 2 and a half times your yearly salary to stay within your budget. Although you may want the best of the best you’d be making a massive mistake by purchasing a home that you can’t easily afford. Use online calculators which take into account your income, debts and other financial factors.
Go with Good Schools
Always buy in a district with awesome schools even if you don’t have children. When it comes time to sell you can demand top dollar for your home if you’re in a great school district. Real estate in such locations moves quickly because many people have families and demand access to good public schooling before they buy a home. Bump up your property value and make your home easier to sell. Research schools before you make a buying decision to benefit yourself in the long run.
