Are you in that stage of your life wherein plans of buying your first home has started to cross your mind? However, has it ever occurred to you to think that maybe it’s too early to plan for things like that?
Let me tell you something- it’s never to early to be planning your life. Don’t be afraid to sound too serious. This is for your future and being able to secure your first home is one of the best investments you can do for yourself and for your family.
So here we have is a list of sure-fire tips to ensure that you are prepared to find your first ever home.
1. Start practicing good spending and saving habits
It’s best that you begin getting into good spending and saving habits as early as possible. As soon as you can start saving up, do so as this would allow your future self to be able to acquire a home loan easily. Upon landing a job, start setting a budget and live on it religiously. You should learn how to spend just enough. A little sacrifice would lead you to reap better fruits. The earlier you save, the bigger budget you’ll be able to afford.
2. Find out how much you can afford
Ensure that you will be buying a house that you can truly pay for. Do not buy the most lavish house, only to end up living in a house you can’t afford with all the other monthly expenses adding up. Try to consider buying a house whose monthly payment is just 30% your monthly income. Save yourself for possible bankruptcy.
3. Prepare your deposit
Once a good spending and saving habits have been established, it will be easier to build up a deposit. Make sure you’ll be able to prepare enough initial deposit to let your bank and lenders know that you are not a risky borrower. Also, securing a hefty deposit will help reduce your mortgage.
4. Check credit history
Before buying your new home, consider checking your credit history. There’s a possibility that there could be problems that will make you less legible for a home loan. This could easily be a phone bill you forgot to pay once. Ensure that all these loopholes are attended to before applying for a home loan. You can hire the services of a company who can check your credit history to help you find loopholes in your credit history. However, make sure that you do not overlook this as this could potentially be a red flag to your bank or lenders.
5. Consult with your broker
Now that you have settled your problems with credit history alongside a deposit, it is advised that you should call your broker to organize a pre-approval and to help you start your search for your first home.
With that set up, you now have a solid understanding of how you can finally get your first ever home.