Are you graduating in a few months and want to buy a home in the Barrie area? It’s a very smart idea. It’s often better to be building equity in your own home versus building equity for someone else. A lot of recent graduates want to buy a home but are not sure how. One of the things you often won’t learn about in college or university is how to buy a home. So how should you go about it?
The first step is to see where you stand currently in regards to your financial situation. You may have student debt to pay or you may just not have had the opportunity to save any additional money. The majority of people are not able to buy right out of school. It takes time to save the necessary downpayment. You are probably looking at homes around $250,000 to start, you can get lower but $250,000 is a good starting benchmark to consider.
Let’s assume you are buying your first home at $250,000 then you need, at minimum, $12,500 as a downpayment. Then you need to factor in another few thousand dollars in closing costs. It’s usually better to save extra though so you have a bit of room in case you need to do work in the home. I’d recommend saving at least $20,000 personally (gifts from the bank of Mom & Dad has helped many people buying their first home too!). So start saving!
To figure out when you can most likely buy a home the first step should be to go to your bank. They can help you find out what you could be approved for now. Then they can help you figure out, from a financial standpoint, when you’ll realistically be able to buy. If your circumstances change like you get a new job, a raise, or come into some money then you can contact them again to update how far away you are from being able to buy.
You should also contact a real estate agent once you know your timeline. This way they can help you start getting to know the right area for you. Letting you know about your options and keeping you up to date on if anything changes that could affect your situation.
The name of the game is information. Once you graduate from college or university and want to buy a home you need to gather as much information as possible. Learn what your financial situation is, how far away from being able to buy you are, where you want to live, and what you need in a home.
