A Home Buying Calculator Can Save You!
We all like to use our gut to make important decisions. Many of us will go through the whole home buying process without consulting a home buying calculator. Most of us feel that we should rely on our instincts and what our friends think to make this important choice. While it makes sense to rely on what our natural instincts tell us and what are good friends suggest, there should be more criteria involved. We often neglect the importance of running the damn numbers when it comes to the LARGEST investment that we’ll ever make. Isn’t that funny?
Why do you need to run the numbers?
You need to know where your finances stand before you go through with the home buying process. Just because you have a decent amount of cash saved up in the bank it doesn’t mean that you’re going to be set with your new home purchase. You need to understand that there’s much more to buying a new home than just the down payment that you save up. You must realize that you’re now going to be hit with expenses that you never even knew existed before.
The decision to rent or buy a home is based on a variety of factors. We need to recognize that a majority of this decision should be made on our finances. Just because some “real estate guru” tells us that it’s a great time to buy a home it doesn’t mean that we need to rush off and buy the first piece of property that we see. Your finances need to be under control before you even consider making this serious investment.
What if you don’t like the home buying calculator numbers that show up?
If the numbers that show up in your calculations aren’t too favorable there’s no need to stress. This can actually be a good thing.
What are the benefits of poor results from using a home buying calculator:
- You wait to buy a home.
- You might find an even better home.
- The prices can drop.
- You allow yourself to save more money.
What I’m getting at is that you don’t need to stress about using a home buying calculator because for better or worse, you’ll know exactly where your finances stand as it relates to buying a home
I’ve included a few links below for those of you that are looking to run a few calculations to see if you’re ready to buy a home at this moment.
Home Buying Tools & Calculators. There’s three important calculators on this page that I’ve used a few times. These calculations will show you what you can afford and what your finances will look like if you choose to buy a home. You need to factor in your new found expenses that come from home ownership. You’re not living in your parents’ basement anymore. You’re going to have real bills now.
Rent vs Buy Calculator @ Squawkfox. This is the best home buying calculator that you will find. If you want to know if you should rent or own based on purely numbers, you need to check this calculator out!
Regardless of what home buying calculator you choose to use to run the numbers, all that matters is that you stop following nonsense advice about following your gut and actually use numbers to make a logical decision. Buying a home is not something that you should take lightly.
(photo credit: marlon.net)
