Buying a home is an important task and requires a little concentration and time. You may spend years saving, saving and eating Ramen noodles to save your down payment. Once you have it, you can think that you are finished. However, many people focus so intensely on getting the house that they forget about what comes next.
Getting the house is exciting, but life keeps moving and expenses keep coming after closing the deal. On the day you receive your keys, you should ideally have at least six months of your income saved for home repairs, property taxes, and rainy days. In fact, many mortgage lenders require borrowers to prove that they will have some money left after closing. If you don't buy the home directly and plan a mortgage, the best option is to save at least 20% of the purchase price of the home as a down payment.
That amount varies depending on the purchase price of the home. If you're buying a home with a mortgage, consider saving enough money to cover the costs associated with the loan plus an additional 3-5%. Singles, couples, families, at some point almost everyone devotes their financial attention to buying a home. So you ask yourself, how much money do I need to buy a house? It's a smart question, especially since buying a home can come with a lot of hidden expenses that are easy to overlook until the closing day.
If you have additional toys or vehicles in the house, sell everything you no longer need if buying a home is your priority. In some cases, you can buy a home with just a few thousand dollars, and in other cases, you may need a lot more. The cost of buying a home will be different for each person because there are many factors that go into total spending. Well, student loans continue to top the list as the number one reason today's homebuyers (51%) struggle to save to buy a home, followed by credit card debt (45%) and auto loans (38%).
