Every individual aspires to create a home of his/her dream and depending on the financial capability, plans to buy one. With an increased supply of disposable income in hand, the present generation has prioritized home buying as a life goal. To avoid any future hassles, it is important to follow the below mentioned tips before signing across the dotted line.
Assess your needs carefully: As a first time buyer, you should make a detailed assessment of your need for space, especially since you will be presented with a large number of great-looking options. For example, you should decide on the floor if you have narrowed down on a property in a high-rise tower. The size of your family and its growing needs will help you to understand if you need a 1 BHK or a 2BHK.
Select the right location: This is certainly one of the most important criteria before narrowing down a property as you will probably live here for the next decade or so or maybe a lifetime too. Your office, your spouse’s workplace and your kids’ school, not necessarily in that order, should be within manageable distance from your home as this will reduce a lot of stress and save travelling time. The railway/metro station, bus connectivity and available of private transportation should ideally be available in the vicinity. Supermarkets, daily convenience stores, banks, ATMs, medical facilities etc. should be nearby too. If all of the above can be ticked off your list, you have probably arrived at the right location for your dream house.
Budgeting: Take a long hard look at your present household income and your investments before applying for a housing loan. Make sure that you will not spending more than 30% of your total household income on the EMI and your savings plan for the future won’t be affected in a major way. If you exceed your budget by a small margin, brainstorm on how you could narrow down this gap. Can you or your spouse take up a part-time job to supplement the current income? A well-thought budget is the key to a secure future for first time home buyers and needs a careful assessment before you handover the cheque for down-payment.
Check actual affordability: If you fail to factor in the expenses that you will face after the home has been bought, you are bound to lose sleep over it. Keep an eye on future expenses and consider various expenses like monthly maintenance, property tax, water charges and home maintenance. Take your decision only after you have assessed all these points and compared them against your household income to arrive at a realistic decision. Apart from these, there is furniture to be made, painting or wall-papering to be done, home appliances to be bought and a million other things that will need your attention.
Spend time discussing these three important tips with your parents or spouse before buying your home and you won’t regret the effort you put into it. Delay the decision if you are not ready financially or emotionally, but do not decide in a rush as you may have to repent later. Ask for advice wherever needed and speak to experts in this area to take a well-informed and real-world decision.