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Showing posts from December, 2013
Saving for a home: Put your purchases in perspective With the New Year approaching, there's a lot of talk about resolutions. Perhaps your New Year's Resolution is to buy a home in 2014, but how do you get there? You've been saving for what feels like forever, but the amount in that savings account is just not going to cut it. Fortunately, there are a lot of programs out there that can help you out. With an FHA loan for example, you can put down as little as 3.5% on your home. However, that's still a lot of money. Between the down payment, closing costs, and all of those little essentials you need when you move in, the amount of money you need can become daunting. So, you need a plan. Start by making yourself a budget, and stick to it! Think about the big picture here. How important is it that you're able to buy a house? Can you give up going out to dinner three times a week for the next few months in order to save more? Can you forego buying those new shoes
Buying a home: Step 3 – Prioritize your "Must-Haves" So you know what you can afford and you've narrowed down your prime location(s). What now? Well, here's where compromise really starts to come into play. Unless you have unlimited funds, which very few people do, you will not get everything you want in a house. There will have to be give and take.  What's important to you? I find that the best way to work through the many things you   want,  to determine what you actually   need,  is to make a list. Write down everything that you would like to have in a house, and then start putting these things in order of priority. (You can probably cross stuff off while you're at it too... yeah, I'd   like  to have an elevator in my house, but it's probably not a necessity.) If you are buying a property on your own, then this should be fairly easy, as yours is the only opinion that really matters. However, if you're part of a couple, or buying joint