Sure, you want to buy a home. Are you ready to do it, though? It’s a huge purchase, and likely, it is the largest you will make in your life, so you need to make sure you really are ready. Let’s look at some of the things you will need to have before you should consider buying a home in Grand Junction, CO.
You need to know what your budget is for the home, and you need to make sure you are considering all of the expenses that come along with a new home, including insurance, possible HOA fees, repairs, and other incidentals in addition to the cost of the mortgage. In addition, you need to have a down payment for the property. The larger the down payment the better. A good rule of thumb is to make sure you have at least 20% of the purchase price as a down payment. Thus, if the home is $200,000, you would want to have $40,000 down.
Of course, you never know what might happen tomorrow, but for now, you need to have a reliable source of income. It needs to be able to cover the mortgage, the aforementioned costs of insurance and repairs, your utilities, food, and more. Having an emergency savings fund “just in case” is a good idea. Naturally, you need to be sure your debt is under control before you consider buying a home, and you will want to have your credit in good shape.
If you have debt or credit issues, start taking care of them now and get them out of the way so you can start saving for your down payment. If you have money for a down payment, but you have a lot of debt, it might make more sense to pay off that debt with it first. Otherwise, you will still be paying interest, which will cost you more in the end.
Resource: http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=20740546
