Buying a house offers a great number of advantages for a family in the United States. Among these advantages is stability in the future, since living in the same house all the time means no moving. On the other hand, if there are no moves, we will get to know the neighborhood and everything around us better. The quality of life, without a doubt, is much higher when we can buy a house.
But not everyone can buy one, as it forces you to have a monthly payment for a long time. Many people want to buy one, but it is affordable for everyone. There are several signs that warn us that we cannot buy a house and today we are going to see 6 of them so that you can analyze your situation and consider trying the investment or wait for a while.
Aspects to consider before buying a house
Among these aspects that we are going to analyze below we will find some more obvious than others, but all of them are very important. If we want to buy a house, we should consider all of them.
Steady paycheck
Having a steady income stream is really important if we want to buy a house. In the United States, a lot of people are self-employed and other people are salaried. It doesn’t matter which side you are on. What does matter is that you have a steady and secure income before you think about buying a home. If you don’t have that income yet, it’s best to wait until the situation improves a bit for you.
The monthly house payment
You should consider what your monthly house payment will be. If you have a steady income from your job, you should know that your monthly house payment should not exceed 30% of that salary. This way, you ensure that you will not be out of money month after month. Every precaution is important when it comes to buying a home, so make sure it is no more than that percentage.
Savings
Another fundamental aspect before buying your own home is to have savings set aside. These savings serve two purposes. The first of these things is to be able to pay for part of the house outright. The other thing is to have some savings to be able to pay the bank’s mortgage in case the economic and labor situation worsens for you. Ideally, you don’t want to spend all of your savings when you start the house payment, but sometimes it is unavoidable.
The down payment on the house
This fact is linked to the previous one. If you do not have enough savings to pay the down payment on the house, which is usually between 10% and 20%, you will not be able to afford to buy the house. There are benefits for this, although it is always better not to have outside money and to have as much money as possible to pay the maximum amount possible from the beginning.
Touching the retirement plan
Another very serious mistake you can make is to touch your pension plan to buy a house. That money is for your retirement, so it is best not to touch any of it if it is not strictly necessary. You should not need this money to pay for housing. If you do need it, you should rethink the situation, as you may not have enough equity to buy a home.
Not having good credit
Good credit is the key to buying a home for the best possible price. A high credit score benefits to have better final conditions. Otherwise, it is not advisable to buy a house at this time. Try to put all of the above in order before applying for a loan, as it is key to not paying more money than necessary.