Jim Curry - Home Buyers Guide V2 Book

breakdown away from bein g fl at broke.” Obviously, the hope or goal is that you don’t get too far into the home search and home-buying process before realizing you can’t a ff ord the home, but this still happens. Many buyers fin d the home of their dreams randomly, even if it’s outside their budget, and they believe that they will do whatever it takes to be able to a ff ord it. But this can be a big mistake! Other times, “you might not have a clear picture of exactly what the fin ancial picture entails,” says Ericson. “Maybe you’re assuming a best-case scenario that there will be no fin ancial hiccups, or your lender didn’t adequately communicate the exact closing costs or the monthly payment.” “But the cost of buying a house you shouldn’t is far higher than the cost of leaving it behind if you’re worried about the payment,” says Todd Huettner, founder of Huettner Capital (Denver), citing worst-case scenarios such as foreclosure, bankruptcy, and decimated credit. He adds that buyers should never buy a home based on the assumption that if it doesn’t work out fin ancially, they can just sell it. What if you can’t sell it when you want? Or you, now the owner, are stuck in a buyer’s market, where there are too many homes for sale but not enough buyers? You could end up living in that una ff ordable home for longer than you’d anticipated and could end u p in fin ancial trouble down the road. Don’t let your emotions take over. Th ink logically, and think long term. Most of all, get fin ancially prepared ahead of time and know your budget before you begin the home search and home-buying process. Th is will save you a lot of time, energy, and potential heartache. HOW TO GAIN AN ADVANTAGE: 146

Powered by