Are you Ready to Buy a Home

How does buying a home compare with renting ?

The two aren't really comparable. The one big advantage of renting is being generally free of most maintenance responsibilities and costs. But by renting, you lose the chance to build equity, take advantage of tax benefits, and protect yourself against rent increases. Also, you may not be free to decorate as you wish without permission. You may not like having your neighbor live "on the other side of the wall."

Owning a home has many benefits. When you make a mortgage payment, you are building equity. And that's an investment. Owning a home also provides income tax deductions for interest and property taxes that help you handle the added financial responsibilities; homeowner insurance, real estate taxes, and upkeep. But given the freedom, stability, and security of owning your own home, most families agree that it is worth it.

Are you really ready to own a home ?

Start by asking yourself some questions:

• Do you have a steady source of income (usually a job)?
• Have you been employed on a regular basis for the last 2-3 years? Is your current income reliable?
• Do you have a good record of paying our bills and paying them on time ?
• Do you have relatively few outstanding long-term debts, like car payments or college loans ?
• If this your first home, have you saved money for a down payment or will someone give it to you as a "gift"?
• Do you have the ability and the commitment to make a mortgage every month and cover the additional costs of home ownership ?

If you can answer "yes" to all of these questions, you are probably ready to consider buying a home of your own.

How do we get started ?

Then, there are some more questions to ask yourself and priorities you need to establish:

• How much can home we really afford ? A Mortgage Company can help you answer this question.
• How much space do we need (or want)?
• Are there specific areas of town that we prefer ?
• Remember that there's a realtionship beween an area's attractiveness and it's affordability
• How many bedrooms and baths do you feel you need ?
• What other amenities are important to you (an eat-in kitchen, family room, pool, attached garage, etc)
• How big a lot of land would you like to have ?
• Should the house be close to certain schools, your job(s), or public transportation

Answer these questions at two levels - a minimum set of requirements and a second "wish list"

Your minimum requirements are those things that a house must have for you to consider it, while your "wish list" covers things that you'd like to have but aren't really "essential."

After you've answered these questions, start doing some casual research. Talk to friends and family, drive through neighborhoods, look in the "Homes" section of the newspaper. And the ooner the better, find a Realtor® you feel comfortable delaing with. He or she will be a very important part of your home search.

OK, now it's time to start looking for your home. If this will be your first home, know upfront that it will be an exciting, but occasionally frustrating process. Be prepared to see homes that from the outside look appealing but inside you really don't like them at all as well as homes you love inside and out but they are just a bit too expensive for you to buy and feel comfortable with the financial obligations they would present. Take comfort, though, in this. There is the perfect home for you and your family out there and if you are persistent and working with a dedicated Realtor®, you'll find it. And, it will be worth every bit of the effort as you fulfill the "American Dream" of owning a home of your own.

Some of the above ideas and information has been extracted from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD Home Buying website.