Buyers - Are You Ready???

BUYERS: ARE YOU READY?

(This is the second of a three part series for homebuyers, outlining the process and steps to take that will result in your successfully buying a home, whether you are a first time homebuyer or a move-up buyer .)

Great! You have made a decision to buy a home for the first time, or perhaps the second time, in your life. Exciting, isn’t it?

But what brought you to the decision to buy a new home?

Whether you have or have not already chosen a realtor to work with you as you prepare to buy a home, this will be one of the three main questions that any realtor will be asking as they guide you through the home buying process:

1. Are you able to buy a home ?
2. Are you ready to buy a home?
3. Are you willing to buy a home?

The focus of Part 2 in this series addresses the second question: Are you ready to buy a home?   Knowing what your motivation is for buying a home is key in determining how serious you are about completing all of the steps, and answering all of the questions, that are involved in buying a home.

  So, what does it mean to be ready to buy a home?

  Being ready to buy a home addresses a very wide range of     factors that answer the question “Why?” The answer(s) to that question can be as varied and complex as the number of buyers who have to answer that question.

There are some answers to the question “why do you want or need to buy a home” that will, just by their very nature, have more weight to them in your decision to buy a home.

The following list gives the major reasons why people want or need to buy a home. This list is not meant to be an all-inclusive neither exhaustive list, nor will they all apply to all buyers equally, but they generally tend to be the consensus of what most buyers report as reasons for wanting or needing to buy :

1. Job/military relocation
2. Getting married/just married
3. Seeking/establishing independence
4. Growing family
5. Desire for a better area/neighborhood
6. Empty nest-need to downsize
7. Unsatisfactory current living arrangements
8. Upcoming lease renewal with significant increase in rent  

Wanting to buy a home may come with several other behind-the-scenes motivators, such as the recent $8000 First Time Home Buyer’s Tax Credit, programs that offer down payment and/or closing cost assistance, knowledge of the tax benefits that come with home ownership, the pride of having something to call one’s own, low interest rates, and the fact that it is currently a buyer’s market.

However, no matter what type of market we are in, none of the factors that motivate people to want to buy can ever trump having the need  to buy.

Being ready to buy because there is a need that is fulfilled by acquiring a home of one’s own is the most powerful motivator there is – especially if there is a time component involved. Lease is up within the next six months? Job relocation is scheduled within the next three months? Getting married in the next five months? A new arrival to your family is coming in the next four months?

These are all compelling reasons to get the home-buying process started. Of course, you should first hire a Realtor and make sure that you are able to buy a home when you make the decision to buy a home .

Having compelling reasons to buy a home will make it easier for you to follow any recommendations by your realtor and/or mortgage professional that will bring you closer to achieving your goal of home ownership.