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Are You Ready to Buy A Home?

by | Aug 23, 2020 | Area Information, Buying a Home, Current Real Estate Market, First Time Home Buyer, Uncategorized

Why buy a home? All your friends are doing it, should you follow along and do the same?

Is it your time to buy a home? It seems to be one of the proper things to do when you begin adulting. But let’s take a real look at why people should or should not buy a home.  Let’s also look at some of the benefits of homeownership vs being a renter.

 

Are You Ready To Become a Homeowner?

 

All your friends seem to be doing it, they are all buying a home. At least that’s how it seems from your friends’ recent social media posts. But what about you? Are you ready? Can you even afford a home? And what if you want to move cross country next year, or travel?

Your lifestyle and goals will come into play when you start to look at the reality of making a home purchase. You need to think through what you want to be doing with your life, and where you want to be. Do you have a plan?

Before you begin looking at homes to buy or figuring out how much home you can afford to buy, first consider: does homeownership fit in with your lifestyle? Take a look and ask yourself if the benefits make sense for you right now. Or will the benefits of homeownership be overshadowed by items like lawn care and maintenance? Figure out what you want your life to look like in the future. Then you can be sure that your fulfilled dream of homeownership will not put a crimp in your plans.

Is This The Right Time For You To Buy a Home?

 

For some people, the best decision is to wait until they have a plan and that is OK. Do not feel pressure to conform. You need to look after what is in your financial best interests and what fits with the lifestyle you want for your life.

For example, if you are a drummer, landlords do not like your practicing (nor do your neighbors) with the paper-thin walls in the apartment complexes. You might be interested in owning your own home and everyone who lives around you in the apartment complex might be supportive too.

 

Buying a Home The Fun & The Practical

Homeownership can be fun, as you get to make decisions. Lots of decisions, like picking what color you want to paint the walls.

Do you love the Vikings and want to decorate a room in purple and gold? Or are you an artist who loves big bright wall murals?

Are you a pet person who likes dogs larger than 45 pounds? Maybe you need a big fenced in backyard? Or a long run? You can easily have these things in your own pet-friendly home.

You know the landlord would never let you have a big dog or install purple carpeting. Besides, why would you want to spend money to put down new carpeting in someone else’s building? 

After you think through some of the fun reasons to buy a home, look at some of the more practical.

If you buy a home you are investing your monthly rent expenses into a purchase for yourself.  Instead of sinking your money into buying a building for some mega-corporation. The same corporation that has ho has no idea you even exist let alone that you love the Vikings.

Investing In Your Future

When you put your rent money into buying a home you begin to build equity, you have an ownership stake in the property. Now so does the bank, but with each payment, the principal portion of your payment gets bigger, and the interest portion shrinks. Also, as property values increase your equity increases too. This is known as appreciation.

Making Your Decision To Buy a Home

When you make the decision to buy a home you are making the decision to invest in your self and to stop investing in your landlord.

There are some tax benefits with homeownership too. Your yearly interest on the home loan should be a deduction depending on your situation, please check with your tax professional for specifics.

When you are buying a home you have the opportunity to pay it off and find yourself in 10, 15, 20, or 30 years with no monthly housing payment. Now you will still have property taxes to pay to the local government, but you will no longer have the payment.

If you rent from a landlord even after you have given him all the money he needed to pay off the loan you still have to pay rent. Plus as time goes along the landlord can raise your rent.

With a mortgage, you can select a fixed payment option with a fixed length of time. The variables on the payment would be your taxes and your insurance. Renters should have insurance on their property too. Taxes will always be there no matter who you are or what kind of roof you have over your head.

Buying a Home & Investing in Yourself

If you have decided that you should Buy A Home next you need to look at what kind of home best suits your needs. Remember the drummer? Well ok! We all have had loud neighbors and maybe even that’s you. And if it is you should look at a single-family home that does not share a wall with the neighbors.

If you are a drummer, a condo or a duplex would not be your best option. And if you want to invite the whole band over to jam in the garage, please look at noise ordinances in the town or maybe consider buying a home in a more rural setting.

Rural as in the next-door neighbors are down the street a bit. If you chose a home in a rural setting with space between the homes then you need to take into account how you will manage the lawn care.

If you hate to mow the lawn then buying a home on a few acres is not for you. Maybe buying a townhome is the answer for you. Townhomes are great for people who want to own their space but have no interest in gardening or in lawn care. Drummers who hate lawn care reading this post we have some ideas for you too please give a call.

Condos can be a great option if you want some options similar to apartment complexes but still want the freedom to paint your walls any color you pick. Be sure to review all the association documents carefully and before you get locked into a purchase.

Figure out what will work for you and how you want to live. Your home should be a place you love.

Now Maybe The Best Time Ever To Buy a Home

Compare costs. In many areas, the rent on an apartment is greater than the monthly payments on a home mortgage. Why? While rental rates have continued to go up for several years in a row, mortgage interest rates have dropped to the lowest I have seen. The lowest I’ve seen in my entire career. Maybe my lifetime.

If you buy a home today, your monthly housing expense may drop, even without taking into account the other benefits we discussed. Spend a few minutes with a Realtor or Lender and you might realize this is a good time to buy a home.

Many people end up with their home as the single largest investment they make in their life. For most of us, our housing expenses are our largest monthly expense. If buying a home fits with your lifestyle, shouldn’t you use that monthly payment for your own benefit?

If you are relocating to central Minnesota check out all the wonderful reasons to love St Cloud. It is a  beautiful area full of things to do and lots of great houses. I would welcome the opportunity to help you find your perfect place here. Browse my website for more information about buying or selling a home, or property in the Central Minnesota real estate market.

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