Getting your first home can pose some challenges if you haven’t owned any property in the past. Not only do you need to look at the market, but you should always see how much you can afford among the options available to you. This means you should figure out how to choose between your dream home and a starter home to ensure you don’t break the bank.
Find Out The Cost Of Your Dream Home
You can always start by looking into your dream home and finding out how much it costs. Doing so will give you a good gauge of what you want to aim for when you plan to get your dream home. For example, you may find out your dream home costs over 900,000 dollars, so you might not be able to afford it.
However, if you check how much your dream home costs, you can plan for it in the future. This means you can figure out the amount of money you should make in the future, so you can eventually afford your dream home and live there.
Figure Out What Loans You Qualify For
If you don’t know whether you can afford your dream home, you should see what loans you qualify for. Loans allow you to see how much money you can put toward a home without putting yourself in a financially difficult situation. You can go to various lenders to find out what you qualify for when it comes to loans.
If you’re a veteran, you could look through the VA loan requirements to see what you can get. VA loans offer excellent options for veterans, so make sure to take advantage of them if you served in a war, so you can save some more money.
Consider How Much Space You Need
As you figure out what home you want to get, you should think about how much space you need. For example, your dream home may have four rooms, but you may not need that many rooms if you currently live on your own. On the other hand, if you have a spouse and three children, you may need to go for your dream home to give everyone enough room.
Even though you do need to consider what you can afford, you must think about how much space you need. You may waste money if you go for your dream home right now, so you may want a starter instead.
Remember the Power of Selling
Even if you go for a starter home at first, you should remember you can sell your home at a later date. Even if you haven’t paid off your home debt, you can still sell your home, pay off the rest of the debt, and pocket the leftover cash. You can then take the cash and put it as a downpayment toward your dream home.
Depending on how long you live in your starter home, you can sell the house and get more money than you bought it for. This depends on the housing market in your area, but you could end up putting the extra money toward your dream home.
Remain Realistic Throughout
As you think about getting your dream home, you should make sure you remain realistic throughout the process. This means you should figure out whether you can afford your dream home and not push yourself to get it. Otherwise, you run the risk of facing financial problems if you get a loan you can’t afford to pay off.
If you don’t set realistic expectations, you could end up disappointing yourself while you look for a home. Because of this, you need to think about what starter home works for you, try your best to get a loan for it, and find a house you can afford.
Conclusion
Choosing between a starter and a dream house can pose some challenges, but you can figure out your ideal choice. If you pay for your dream home, you should go for it, but you could get a starter home if you want to save money. Remember, you can upgrade your home at a later point, so you can eventually get your dream home.
