Buying a home is a huge investment and the last thing you want to hear is that you are not ready to buy. Here are 10 signs that you're ready to buy:
1. You have a down payment saved up.
2. You like to spend time in your home, which means it's clean and organized.
3. You've been able to make all of your regular payments on time and in full over the past year or two (or three).
4. Your credit score has improved dramatically over the past several months or years, for example, it went from 550 to 700 or 750, etc.
5. You've saved up enough money for a down payment and closing costs for your dream home — but don't expect them to be cheap!
6. You've done as much research as possible about neighborhoods, schools, crime rates, home prices and other important factors before deciding on where you want to live — even if you haven't found anything yet!
7. Your budget includes at least one month's worth of living expenses in case something unexpected comes up while you're looking at homes — like an unexpected repair bill or closing costs that come out of pocket instead of being covered by a lender's turnkey loan program
8. Your credit is in good shape: no late payments or collections on debts in the last six months; no inquiries or liens filed against your name; no bankruptcies within the last five years; no recent evictions or legal actions taken against you; no judgments against you or any family members — those can cause problems if they go unpaid for more than two years after they have been filed (this also applies to short sales); and don't have any open lines of credit (like credit cards) that haven't been paid off yet (otherwise known as "open loops").
9.Your credit history has been excellent over the past five years — no late payments or missed payments in the past 12 months on your credit cards or loans, and no collections or bankruptcies on your personal records either (although some may have been resolved, so check with your bank before purchasing anything).
10. You have a plan for paying the monthly bills.
If you have an emergency fund of at least six months worth of expenses, then you're ready to start saving for a down payment. If not, make sure that you have enough money saved up so that you don't have to rely on credit cards or other debt when buying your first home.
So there you have it, a few more signs to watch out for. There are a lot of people that want to buy a home but where the decision will probably come down to how bad the market is. Hopefully, this has helped you get an idea when you are ready to buy a home. I know this post is long and I wanted to include all the things that could go into making a decision like purchasing a house or not. The post is also based on my personal thoughts and opinions from my experiences in real estate so if you have anything that I have missed please feel free to let me know in the comments section below.