Are You Ready to Buy a Home?
Buying a home has become a part of the traditional American dream for decades. Since it is one of the biggest financial commitments in one’s life, it is always advisable not to jump in for buying a home before you are ready for it. You may think how difficult is to buy a home as every day hundreds of thousands people do it. Yes, the process of buying a home does appear simple, but the entire process involves critical thinking, legal analysis, financial planning and thorough calculations. If you consider buying home, it would be one of the most expensive investments of your life. Therefore, you need to follow certain steps to judge whether you are fully prepared for such investment, or you need to wait for some more time.
Compare and Contrast Renting and Buying
Renting a property may allow you to enjoy flexibility, but you cannot expect any long-term investment from it. However, renting is ideal for the persons who need to relocate frequently. Buying means you need to stay in one place for long-term. When you are renting, you don’t need to think about property taxes, regional assessment or property owner’s liability whereas these are all applicable after buying a home. Along with these matters, you should be aware of the regular maintenance and repairing of the property. From the long-term expedience, buying a home always makes sense. Therefore, you need to compare all these matter.
Consider How Much You Should Afford
In order to assess whether you are prepared to take the burden of home loans, it is essential to evaluate your income first. You need to calculate your qualification for the mortgage. Being the bread earner of the family, it is essential to know whether after paying for the loan or mortgage, you must have enough money to cover your average monthly expenditure and always extra for emergency situations (like a buying a new clutch for your car! Ugh..They are not cheap, trust me!)
Understanding the Mortgage Qualification Process
Next, you need to complete a mortgage application with a licensed mortgage agen, which of course you need to include your income and expense information for a pre-approval. Do a review on the mortgage agent/agency before you choose them. Go online and research them, did people have a good experience? I really can't stree how this is an important factor.
Choosing the Right House
Obviously, this goes without saying but you wouldn't believe how many buyers jump at a chance to buy a home, just because they can afford it. Many people invest their life-long saving for buying their dream home in their long-cherished destinations. From my experience as an real estate agent in Hawaii, I find that a lot of people are purchasing homes for sale in Hawaii as an investment, especially here in paradise since it's a very desirable place to live all year round. Yes, buying a home can be an investment choice but honestly, for most people it's not an option. So I say, filter only the right houses weighing all the pros and cons. Based on the location, surroundings, the age of the home, a contrast between current market price and asking price, attractive extra features of the home and other major points, you need to come to a conclusion whether you are all prepared to buy your dream house. Do research on the neighborhood and the schools nearby. If you have kids, this is extremely important. What if you find a great home that you can afford but the neighborhood isn't the best and the schools are horrible? Would you still make the purchase if you have young kids who will be attending that school? These are important questions that no one can answer except you and your family. I tell my clients to write it all down. Write down the pros on one side of the sheet and draw a line down the middle and find all the cons, then discuss as a family. Yes the market is very good to purchase a home now but what is more important is the decision you make that will affect your life for many decades to come.
Good luck and ask me if you have any questions.
Kimi Corea - Hawaii Realtor
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