You want to buy a home, but there is economic uncertainty. Here are some key considerations to help determine the way forward. 

Have you saved enough for a down payment? 

Staying within your budget should help you to pay all your expenses. Start by saving. Each month put what you can into a savings account. Over time, you will have saved up enough to help with down payment and closing costs. Not sure how to save. Take our Financial Literacy and Homebuyer Education Class. 

Work on your Credit. 

It is important to know your credit worthiness and what creditors say about you. Reviewing your credit report, at least annually, will help prevent surprises as well as help you learn what you can do to improve your score. Although it will not have your FICO score, you can get a free credit report from each credit bureau by going to annualcreditreport.com. 

Two significant factors that impact your credit score are how you pay your bills and how much you owe. It is important to pay all of your bills on time as well as keeping your balances low on revolving lines of credit. Creditors also take into consideration how much you currently owe on each line of credit compared to the credit limit and/or original loan amount. This is what is known as credit utilization rate. Most credit experts advise keeping your credit utilization below 30 percent, especially if you want to maintain a good credit score. For example, if you have $10,000 in available credit, your outstanding balances should not exceed $3,000. 

How long are you planning to stay? 

Beyond the purchase price, buying a home comes with closing costs that can run thousands more. So, to justify those one-time transaction costs, it’s wise to be reasonably certain that you won’t move again anytime soon — or that you’ll be financially stable enough to hold on to the property and rent it out.

If you want to learn more, check out our classes and homebuyer coaching.