Several years ago, my wife and I were in a bit of a bind.
Wed already been forced into getting pretty creative with arrangements with one baby in the home, but two?
It was clear thatwe needed a bigger place.
With that, we started house hunting.
We didmanythings wrong during our house search, our move, and our early days of home ownership.
But, unfortunately, I dont have a time machine.
Perhaps theyll find their way to someone in the same situation I was in 15 years ago.
You dont have a landlord skulking around!
Once you pay off your mortgage, you wont have a monthly payment any more!
(Well, except for property taxes and association fees and insurance.)
If you own your house, youll either be fixing it yourself or calling a repairperson.
All of these expenses add up, and theyshould factor into comparisons between a mortgage and rent.
But once youve paid off 20% of your mortgage, you might cancel your PMI.
As with literally every part of buying a house, however, its complicated.
According to AAA estimates,the average cost of new vehicle ownership is $9,282 a year.
This includes insurance, fuel, maintenance, licensing and registration, depreciation, and loan interest.
Used cars are less expensive, but even so: Ouch.
Its effectively your house hunting budget, and it makes the whole process way easier.
Even that little amount is worth many hours of bank meetings.
They shine in comparison to smaller homes with lower quality decor.
The thing is, youre paying for those nicer elementsand youre paying alot.
Start at the bottom and inch your way up.
Dont start by looking at homes at the high end of your pre-approval.
So why do people even 30-year mortgages, then?
The reasons simple: They have lower monthly payments.
Unless you have some sort ofincrediblycompelling reason for preferring a 30-year mortgage, you should get a 15-year mortgage.
Therefore, she pre-approved us for a loan with payments below that 40% threshold.
It can be a moneymaker for sure, but you should know that its also a huge time sink.
But if youre lacking those, it wont go well.
Youre risking losing a lot of timeanda lot of money.
Set some aside for the inevitable bundle of expenses youre going to discover when you move in.
Those costs are going to add up, no matter how thrifty you attempt to be.
Youll be incredibly glad you did.
Just do it smartly.
Then, slowly upgrade the furnishings as you see fit (and as necessary).
Another big benefit of such a policy is that it keeps money in your pocket.
Youll become very selective with the things that you buy, which means youll spend less overall.
When you do spend money, it will be for quality upgrades, not just mass quantities of stuff.
Just stop by if you see them outside and introduce yourself.
Building a mutually beneficial relationship with your neighbors is extremely helpful.
They werent conscious mistakes, just errors we made because we didnt yet know what we were doing.
Hopefully, you’re able to do the same.
This article was originally posted on August 8, 2016.
