Are you ready to buy a home in Boston, MA?

Maybe you've been renting for years now and you feel it's time to own a house in Boston, MA. How do you know for sure? Purchasing a home (in Boston, MA or anywhere) is major both financially and in terms of your personal future. Here are questions to ask yourself in order to determine whether or not you are ready to buy a home.

Do you have a lot of debt?
Having a lot of debt or bad credit (or both) isn't always a reason not to buy a home. There are many things you can do to fix up your credit and still get a decent loan. That said, if paying down debt takes up a good chunk of your monthly income, you might not be ready to purchase a home yet. Your high debt-to-credit ratio could preclude your getting good interest rates. Your high monthly bills make might things too tight with a mortgage piled on top. Make sure you sit down and really work out a budget before moving forward with home shopping if you have a lot of debt.

Do you have savings? Job security?
Most people looking to buy a home have some savings set aside for the down payment. But what about beyond that? If there is an emergency a few months into living in your new place, will you be able to manage? Is your job secure? You only want to buy a home if you can continue to pay the mortgage (and property taxes and repairs) into the foreseeable future. You should have enough saved that if you have an emergency or are without income for a month or two you can still pay your mortgage during that time. Just barely being able to buy a house is risky, and you could end up in foreclosure if something goes wrong.

Are you ready to stay in the same place for the foreseeable future?
Buying a house is a long-term commitment. Are you certain that you want to stay in this area for the next five or so years? Ask yourself that same question with different scenarios. If you lost your job, would you still want to live here? If your girlfriend broke it off, would you want to move away? If you don't see yourself staying in this area for quite a while, you might want to reconsider buying. A house is semi-permanent. You cannot always move out quickly, and you don't want to end up selling it too early and losing money instead of profiting.

Does owning make sense for your lifestyle?
Sometimes people want to buy a home because they feel they should own by a certain age, or all of their friends are buying homes. Those aren't good reasons! If owning a home doesn't mesh with your lifestyle, then don't do it. If you travel a lot, or really like having a landlord responsible for all of the maintenance and repairs, buying a home just might not be right for you at this time.

If you have any other questions about buying a home in Boston, MA, please contact me! I am here to help and would be more than happy to provide information or professional assistance with buying or selling your home.

Michael Feldman
Keller Williams Realty-Boston Metro

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