{"id":18696,"date":"2018-11-21T16:05:19","date_gmt":"2018-11-21T16:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/?p=18696"},"modified":"2018-11-21T16:05:19","modified_gmt":"2018-11-21T16:05:19","slug":"what-you-should-know-before-buying-your-first-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/what-you-should-know-before-buying-your-first-home\/","title":{"rendered":"What You Should Know Before Buying Your First Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- SEO Ultimate Plus (https:\/\/seoultimateplus.com) - Code Inserter module -->\n<script async>(function(s,u,m,o,j,v){j=u.createElement(m);v=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0];j.async=1;j.src=o;j.dataset.sumoSiteId='b68b392479b5981b8acf46565e9fe32a0734fc21a1f7c1e60121eaa6ca1a1c64';v.parentNode.insertBefore(j,v)})(window,document,'script','\/\/load.sumo.com\/');<\/script>\n<!-- \/SEO Ultimate Plus -->\n\n<p><span>If you\u2019re planning on buying your first home, congratulations. This is an important step in securing your life financially. However, just like any other important decision you make in your life which will have great ramifications on your future, you need to consider a lot of factors before committing to the place you want to buy. And it\u2019s not just about your financial situation right now but how things will be down the line. Not only do you need to <\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepattisallgroup.com\/blog\/what-you-should-know-buying-your-first-home\/\">make sure you can afford the place<\/a><\/span><span>, but that the property\u2019s value will go up a few years down the line. You also need to consider:<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><span>The Question of Affordability<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span>That should be the first thing you ask yourself. Can I afford to buy a house right now? Of course, only you can answer that question. And the answer involves your current financial situation, your job stability, whether you actually need to buy a house or not. For example, if your job is the type that involves a lot of travelling and relocating then a promotion down the road might force you to move cities or even countries. But if you have a stable job and you can afford it then buying a house should be a priority. Low-interest rates are making it a lucrative option to buy a property these days.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><span>Getting a Mortgage<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span>Getting yourself into a mortgage is something you need to think about carefully. You\u2019re looking at years of debt. Also, it\u2019s not easy to get a mortgage. Financial institutions will consider things like the state of your credit. Your income, your debts, liabilities and assets are all considered before a loan is approved. Also, your credit score will decide if you can get that magic 5% interest rate or not. On average only people with a credit score of 700 or above will get that rate. So you need to check your financial situation carefully.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><span><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18700 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/mortgage.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"540\" \/><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2><strong><span>What the Future Holds<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span>One thing that most home buyers tend to not think about is where will they be in 5 years. Will you still be living in this part of town? What are your future prospects? As a rule, if you are not planning on spending the next 5 years in the house you buy then it\u2019s not worth sinking all the money you plan to invest there. Of course the longer you stay in the house the more likely you\u2019ll get back all the expenses you put in it. It doesn\u2019t make sense to buy a place then leave it empty because other obligations force you to move cities.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><span>Is it Worth it?<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span>Whether you\u2019re buying a house as an investment or to actually live in it, the house\u2019s future value should factor in your decision to buy. It\u2019s true you can\u2019t predict the market trends but certain indicators might give you an idea of whether this is a good investment or not. The area you\u2019re buying a house in is it growing or dying? Are people moving in or are they leaving it to greener pastures? Also, it might help to ask the current owners why they\u2019re selling. They might have a good reason to flee this part of town which would be a good sign not to invest in it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><span>Buying with another Person<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span>Buying the house with your partner can be a solid decision financially speaking. Not only will you be able to afford a bigger house, but the monthly payments will be lighter being divided into two incomes. Pooling resources together also improve both your chances of getting the bank loan. So even if you credit score not that high, but your partner who also has a stable job will put their name on the deed, that will make it easier for the bank to accept your application. That said, remember that buying a house together is a big commitment. It makes it easy to buy the place but also difficult to sell when the time comes to move to another place.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><span><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18701 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/newcouple.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"540\" \/><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2><strong><span>Monthly Payments and other Considerations<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span>Once you found the dream house and secured the loan, the monthly payments start. Your monthly payments are a combination of principal, interest, property tax and insurance. This hefty chunk taken out of your income at the beginning of every month is something that will continue for years. And while the bank will make sure you can afford it, you need to ask yourself can you actually live with it. Will it affect the quality of your life you\u2019ll be living on ramen for months on end?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Buying your first house is a good investment decision but you need to be aware of the financial consequences of such an important step in your life.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re planning on buying your first home, congratulations. This is an important step in securing your life financially. However, just like any other important decision you make in your life which will have great ramifications on your future, you<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/what-you-should-know-before-buying-your-first-home\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":18697,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wl_entities_gutenberg":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","spay_email":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"wl_entity_type":[602],"modified_by":null,"_wl_alt_label":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ukhome.jpg","wl:entity_url":"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl0502\/post\/what_you_should_know_before_buying_your_first_home","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18696"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18696"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18702,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18696\/revisions\/18702"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18696"},{"taxonomy":"wl_entity_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wl_entity_type?post=18696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}