When You Should Buy a Home?

Overall, home ownership can give you a feeling of accomplishment in reaching a goal while also helping you establish deep roots in your community. Unlike renters, who tend to be more transient in nature and less conscientious about their physical surroundings (they don’t own them, after all), home owners have plunked down one of the biggest investments of their lives in their communities.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) advises first-time home buyers to ask themselves these questions before making their decision. If you can answer ‘‘yes’’ to the following questions, HUD says you’re probably ready to buy your own home:

• Do I have a steady source of income (usually a job)?
• Have I been employed on a regular basis for the last two to three
• years?
• Is my current income reliable?
• Do I have a good record of paying my bills?
• Do I have few outstanding long-term debts, like car payments?
• Do I have money saved for a down payment?
• Do I have the ability to pay a mortgage every month, plus additional costs?

On the downside, home ownership does bring with it significant responsibilities that renters generally don’t have to deal with. Once you’ve walked away from the closing table with those keys in your hand, you can no longer dial up the landlord when a pipe breaks or when the furnace stops producing heat. You are your own ‘‘go to’’ person on the chain, which means outside chores like cutting grass and cleaning roof gutters are suddenly in your lap. Owning a home also means not being as mobile as you once were, since selling a home and giving thirty days’ notice to a landlord are two completely different things.
Here’s a rule of thumb for renters wondering if ownership is right for them: In general, the longer you are likely to remain in a residence, the more advantageous it is to own rather than rent. If your career, family status, and other variables are likely to be stable for the next three to five years, then your housing needs should be equally stable. That’s not to say that a mobile professional shouldn’t buy a home (in fact, many relocating professionals never rent and simply buy and sell as they make their way around the country to different positions), but it does give you something to think about before making your decision.
For some folks, renting is going to be the right choice. For others, the positives of owning their own ‘‘home sweet home’’ will far outweigh the negatives.