What Mortgage Advice Would Your Father Give?

With Father’s Day coming up, now is a good time to review some tips that your father might probably give you about buying a home and paying mortgage. In most cases, your dad has more experience buying homes and paying a mortgage. Here are some common sense tips that many fathers would pass on to their children.

• Only buy what you can afford. It's easy today to get caught up buying a larger home than you need. If you have a small family, you probably don’t need to purchase a home that has six bedrooms and four bathrooms. This could cost you thousands more than you need to pay. Your dad would probably tell you to realistically evaluate your needs and buy a home that fits them.
• Don't be house poor. Is the house you are considering buying going to give you enough money left over each month to save? Will you be able to put money away for your child’s college tuition? Will you have enough left over each month to have some fun with the family or save up for a yearly vacation? Consider these things when choosing a home. You don’t want to have your entire paycheck each month going towards your mortgage payment because life is too short.
• Don't buy a money pit. Make sure the house you buy doesn't require a lot of unexpected expenses. Your father might tell you about the bathroom renovation that turned into a total house gut. It happens.
• Plan for unexpected expenses. Owning a house it more expensive than you might think. Make sure you budget for a flooded basement, damaged roof, new furnace, etc. It's certain that you will have at least one major repair a year.
• Know what you want. Make sure you understand what you want in a house and stick to that. Don't "settle" for a house, especially in today's buyers market. Buying and selling a house requires a major time and money investment - know yourself so you can get it right and your now back on the market in six months.
• If you are going to start searching for a home soon, get your finances in order. Make sure you have the downpayment ready to go and pay down any credit card and consumer debt you may have.
• Shop around and find the best mortgage rate you can.

Father’s Day is a way to honor our dads and everything that they do for us. But the best thing we can do throughout the year is to honor their wisdom and their advice. Have you taken your father’s advice lately?

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