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Getting The Most Bang For Your Buck

You decided to look for your perfect house. Maybe it’s your first home, or a step up, or where you want to put down some long-term roots. Everyone has a dream, a perfect plan for finding and buying the optimum residence. But those ambitions need to be rooted in possibility.

The website House Hunt (www.househunt.com) suggests that the first thing you need to do is figure out how much house you are going to buy. Once you have a realistic target in mind, you can start working toward an actual goal. Next, you need to figure out your current financial picture. This involves three views:

Your income. This includes all income, from all sources, and then take away any taxes you’ll owe on that income.

Your assets. This includes only highly liquid assets – in other words, money in savings accounts, stocks and bonds, mutual funds, etc.

Your liabilities. This includes both lump-sum-type debts, such as credit card debt, and monthly payments, such as an automobile loan, or alimony payments. Now, you have figured out how much you can afford right now to put down as a down payment, and how much you can afford as a monthly mortgage payment. You have also figured out how much you want to spend on your house. The difference between where you are and where you want to be is what you need to work on.

The best advice is to discuss your situation with your real estate professional who can provide extert advice and referrals to insure you find the ideal home.

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