6 Habits All Successful Home Buyers Have in Common By Margaret Heidenry Jan 3 2019

Here’s a breakdown of home-buying habits to adopt now.  These behaviors are things you can do daily, weekly, monthly, or even just yearly. Taken together, they set you well on the path to homeownership with a minimum of pain and suffering.

1. Daily: Ditch an indulgence or two

• Daily habits you may want to adopt now include eating out less often, cutting the cable bill, canceling (or downgrading) the gym membership, forgoing expensive coffee, and making your own lunch every day

2. Weekly: Make deposits into a ‘home savings’ account

• Get into the habit of depositing a set weekly amount.

3. Weekly: Start attending open houses

• Getting into the habit of attending open houses will not only give you a feel for what homes are available, but seeing homes that could be yours will also help motivate you to save.

4. Monthly: Do a trial run at homeownership

• Owning a home is more than just coming up with a 20% down payment. You also have to be able to pay the mortgage and home maintenance costs.  For one month, set aside the anticipated amount of your monthly housing expenses and what you’d need for an emergency fund. (A good rule of thumb is to save 10% of your mortgage amount every month for maintenance fees. So if your payment is $1,200, sock away $120.) Then see if you can live within your new budget.

5. Monthly: Pay all bills on time

• To qualify for a mortgage at a reasonable interest rate, you’ll need a credit score that is in the 600s at the very least. The best way to keep your score high is to be in the habit of paying every single bill on time. 

6. Yearly: Check your credit report

• To get a free copy of your credit score, go to CreditKarma.com. For your full credit report, available for free once a year, go to AnnualCreditReport.com. Who knows, there may be things on that report you weren’t aware of that are hurting your score—the only way to know and nip these problems in the bud is to check.

To get out of your rental and into your own home check out these tips at bmre.us/tip15.