Purchasing any home is a significant decision in anyone’s life that requires them to go through the process of securing a mortgage loan, finding the best Green Bay and N.E. Wisconsin realtors, and much more. That is why purchasing Green Bay and N.E. Wisconsin real estate is something that should not be rushed. It is a decision that should be carefully thought about for at least a couple of months beforehand in order to make sure that they are ready to actually go through with this process.
The problem that a lot of people face is that it is not always clear whether or not they are ready to invest in real estate in Green Bay and N.E. Wisconsin. That is why this article is here to provide a quick guide on what someone should have in their life to know when they are ready to go through with purchasing a house.
Good Credit Score
A person’s credit score is something that didn’t seem to be promoted very often 15 or 20 years ago. However, it is now common knowledge that the credit score that someone has will have a major impact on their life in several important ways.
One important example of this is when someone goes to a bank in order to qualify for a mortgage loan. A key part of this process is having the bank pull up the person’s credit score and carefully scrutinizing it. They use this information to determine how big of a mortgage loan they can approve the person for as well as what interest rate they will charge the individual.
When someone is dealing with an expensive loan such as a mortgage, even a one or two percent difference in the interest rate can end up being thousands of dollars more that need to be paid to the bank. Therefore, someone is going to want to avoid trying to get a mortgage loan until they reach a good credit score. Otherwise, they could end up having to pay a total of over $5,000 more for a home than they would if they waited until their credit score was even 15 or 20 points higher.
Depending on the specific credit model being used to measure the credit score, it is generally considered good to have anything over 700. Therefore, this should be the minimum score that someone has when they attempt to get a mortgage loan.
Significant Savings Account
When it comes to owning Green Bay and N.E. Wisconsin real estate, there is always going to be unexpected costs. Therefore, they need to make sure that they are in a financial position where they are going to be able to handle this.
It is not just the costs of the house that they need to worry about either. There is also the potential that other areas of a person’s life, like their vehicle, job, or healthcare might suddenly take a financial hit and require them to pay quite a bit of money within a short amount of time. In order to compensate for this, an individual should make sure that they have a fairly large amount of money saved up before they even begin to think about approaching realtors in Green Bay and N.E. Wisconsin.
If they have at least one full month of their salary put away in a savings account, then this will help them to ensure that they will be able to make their mortgage payment even during a financially challenging month.
A Large Down Payment
When someone wants to purchase a home nowadays, they are pretty much guaranteed to need a down payment. The exact amount of a down payment will vary from place to place but it is generally recommended that they have at least 10 percent of the total cost of the home to pay upfront.
Depending on the size of the home, this could be quite a significant amount of money. For example, if someone is looking at buying a $400,000 home, then they should have at least $40,000 ready to pay upfront. This is quite a bit of money for someone to have saved and needs to be completely separate from any money stored in their basic savings account or emergency fund.
It is also important for someone to realize that although 10 percent is the minimum amount for a down payment, it is even better if they have a higher percentage ready for a down payment. This is because the amount of money that they put towards the home will have an impact on how large their monthly mortgage payments are. So by saving up quite a bit of money before ever purchasing a home, they can help to secure themselves a stronger financial future by having to spend less money on their home in the future.
No Plans to Move Anytime Soon
Buying a home is a major investment that really only pays off if someone is in it for the long run. Therefore, it is important that someone has a fairly stable future ahead of them if they are going to ever purchase a home.
If someone likes to move around quite a bit and has lived in several different cities in the last decade of their life, then owning property might not be the right choice for them. However, if someone has lived in the same city for at least a couple of years and has a stable job that is not going to transfer them somewhere else anytime soon, then this might mean that the person is ready to consider purchasing their very own home.
It is also important that they get a home that they can grow into, especially if they have not yet had any children but are wanting to. This will help to ensure that they will not have to move in only a year or two to somewhere larger.