When is a Good Time to Buy a Home? What You Need to Know

It can be a tricky thing knowing exactly when is a good time to buy a home. Are blistery winter months better, or long hot summer days better for perusing homes? What about personal finances and interest rates? Or what about all those unexpected fees you forget about?

Most importantly, when do you feel you and your family are ready? It can definitely be hard to wade through the waters of deciding to buy a home. Here’s a quick list of tips of when is a good time to buy that dream home you’ve always wanted.

Buy, Buy, Buy = Money, Money, Money

It may seem silly to address this. Financial orderliness can oftentimes be overlooked when it comes to the “bug” of wanting a new home. So first things first. When scrolling through potential listings it’s easy to just get caught up in the estimated monthly mortgage payment. But take some time to really assess how much a solid down payment you can get you in this long term investment.

We all know it, but the larger the down payment, the better your monthly payment will be. While an accepted standard is 10-20% anything 20% or below is going to leave you with PMI. While this eventually gets knocked off several years into your loan, it’s a nice bonus if you can knock it off with your down payment. Save yourself that extra money per month.

Time and Future Plans

So when looking to get your next home thinking ahead is something to consider. In order to not lose money on your home, it is recommended to stay at least 2-5 years. Staying a shorter amount of time can result in the not only loss of money but stress and undue burdens on you and your family.

So as you’re shopping around, know it’s a good time to buy a home when you can and plan on staying there a good amount of time. Your wallet will thank you!

Summer or Winter?

Its well knew that there are a plethora of houses for sale during the warm summer months. Days are longer, it’s easier to get out and look at houses. There are no impending holidays like Christmas that make you hesitate to sell. But that also makes those months a competitive market. While you may be willing to put in a good offer if it’s not to the seller's likings there is sure to be another buyer around the corner.

Winter months have their pros and cons as well though. While houses are less likely to be listed during these months sellers are more tempted to take whatever offer is available. So while you may not have as many options, you may get a steal of a deal. Ultimately, it comes down to finding the home YOU want, and any time of year has its benefits.

So when is a good time to buy a house? When you feel financially ready to make the big move, when you know you can stay in your future home to make it worth your money, and what time of year you and you’re family feel most up to looking at and assessing homes. With these few tips, you’ll be ready to take the plunge and get that dream house at the perfect time for you.

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