The question that plagues most first time home buyers is; how do I know when it is time to buy? This question can cause indecisions and confusion. Some buyers find themselves stalling and making excuses for why they should wait.
Consider this, as a landlord the people that pay rent in my buildings more than cover the mortgage and maintenance costs on those buildings. There will always be people out there willing to rent. There really seems to be no shortage, but buying a home is like making an investment in your future. So why wait to start investing for that future.
The housing bubble scarred many buyers off. Rapidly declining oil prices and drop in tech stocks caused a drastic plummet in real estate prices in locations such as California and Texas the impact of this decline affected the rest of North America less.
The reality of fluctuating prices in the real estate market place is that if you buy high then you sold high. The opposite applies as well. Your investment becomes relative to when you buy. You definitely want to break even, or better yet make a profit on your investment, but the idea here is that with each payment you are one month closer to being mortgage free.
The logic behind the purchase is obvious; however how do you prepare to make what is likely the biggest capital investment of your life. Find out what kind of mortgage you can get. There are numerous mortgage calculators available to you take advantage. It is likely, that if you can afford to pay rent then you can afford a mortgage payment that would allow you to purchase a similar quality home as your current rental accommodations.
Finally you can request a credit report from a company like Trans Union . This will tell you if you have any outstanding credit issues that need to be cleared up. Your credit history will dictate whether you have the ability to finance your potential purchase.
I believe that it is important to decide early on to surround yourself with people that you can trust and that will give you clear, concise and unbiased advice. Seek out competent professionals to help you on your way. I look forward to hearing your home buying experiences as you make the leap into home ownership.
