Budgeting to buy a house

Before buying a house make sure that you are financially secure. Buying a house is the biggest expensive single thing a person will spend their money on during their life. Make sure you can afford to buy your house by following our tips.

• Run a Credit Report to make certain that there are no discrepancies or problems in your credit history.
• Do an analysis of what your current financial situation is, where the money comes from and where the money is presently going. Develop a household budget for your current situation. Get into the habit of using it on a consistent basis. Keep your spending patterns in check.
• Do an analysis of how buying a house will affect your budget.

Budgeting to Buy

If you want to buy a house, start by working out how much you can afford to borrow. If you are in a lot of debt try to pay these off first before you start your budget. (But don`t get into any more debt in the mean time.) If you have a lot of high-interest credit debt, try to move your balances to cheaper cards and plan to spend a year paying off as much of that debt as possible. The less debt you have the easier it will be to get a mortgage.

• Identify your long-term financial goals.
  Owning a house may be one, saving enough for retirement may be another.
• Write down your monthly income, savings, and spending.
• Open a savings account to start saving for your house.
• Cut back on nonessential spending.
• If it is possible to do so without adversely affecting your down-payment situation, pay off minor debts.

Before applying for a mortgage
Begin to gather items such as your last 3 years income tax returns, current copies of pay stubs and records of any supplemental income you may have.

If you are self employed, you will need all business records and tax returns for the last 3 years. Having these items close at hand will save an enormous amount of time when you are asked for them. You will have to pay a minimum of a 5% deposit. Make sure you have it before you consider buying a home.