Savory Savings: 4 Ways To Help You Budget For A New Home

Buying a home can be an exciting step along the path to fulfilling the American Dream. However, it can also be the costliest step that is most fraught with problems. 

For those who do not carefully budget their incomes prior to making this purchase, debt, heartache and turmoil can ensue. 

These four tips for budgeting for a new home will help individuals see if they can indeed afford a home, how much home they can afford and how they can continue to make their home payments until the mortgage is paid off entirely.

Be Debt-Free

It can be tempting to race ahead and purchase a home before one is ready. Most banks will let individuals apply for loans even if they have a moderate amount of debt. 

However, that debt will only be a source of stress and will limit the amount of money that homeowners will have to repair home issues and to spend on fun miscellaneous items throughout the year, such as gifts, eating out and trips to the salon.

Individuals should aim to be debt-free before buying a home and should also build up a savings account for emergency expenses as well as enough money to put a 10% to 20% down payment on the home.

Determine How Much Home Is Affordable

Before heading out to look at homes that have everything one could possibly wish for, individuals should determine how much home they can safely afford. 

While a bank will help them know what loan amount an individual will be approved for, one should figure an amount out for themselves. The bank will not know everything that one spends money on each month and will also not figure in new expenses that homeowners will have. 

After creating a complete budget and determining how much one will have to spend on housing each month, individuals can use one of several online mortgage calculators to determine what home price they can afford. 

Thankfully, there are numerous new homes on the market today that are both intricately designed and affordable, such as ones built by these Utah home builders.

Find Lower Mortgage Rates

Mortgage rates have been much lower in the past few years than they were nearly a decade ago. However, the rate that a person qualifies for depends on several things but most specifically on credit score. 

Those with good to excellent scores will win much lower mortgage rates than those with average or poor scores will. For some, it may be worthwhile to work on building good credit before applying for a mortgage. 

One can do this by paying down debt, particularly past-due debt, and by paying bills on time. Mortgage lenders will also not want to see many new credit accounts on the score.

Consider Added Expenses

When budgeting for a new home, individuals will need to budget for more than just the mortgage payment. Homeowner’s insurance is always higher than renter’s insurance is. 

Additionally, individuals typically have to add on more utility fees than they had when renting, including trash pickup, water, electricity and gas. They may also need to consider fees for association dues as well as property taxes, which are usually paid twice per year.

Numerous expenses go along with purchasing and owning a new home. When homeowners do not have a cushion to fall back on, they may find themselves with bills that they cannot pay and with house problems that they cannot afford to repair. 

However, with careful planning and strict spending, individuals and families can afford to have beautiful homes that are within their budgets along with funds for discretionary spending that will help them to live a quality lifestyle.