Are You Ready to Buy A Home?

November 03, 2016

With all the speculation about interest rates possibly moving up soon, I’ve been hearing a lot of talk from people about buying a home. You may want to buy, but are you ready? The answer involves a lot more than what interest rates are expected to do. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

How’s your credit? If you’re planning to get a mortgage, one of the first things the mortgage company will do is run a credit check. To get the best rates, you typically need a score of 740 or above. If yours is lower, you’ll pay higher rates or you may not even qualify for a mortgage at all.

One of the quickest ways to improve your credit is to order a copy of each of your 3 credit reports from annualcreditreport.com (free every 12 months) and dispute any errors you may find that could be hurting your score. Another is to pay down credit card or other consumer debt, which also improves your debt/income ratio. If neither of these can improve your score in time, you may just have to build a positive record of on-time payments and wait for your score to rise over time.

Do you have enough savings for a down payment and closing costs? Ideally, you would have enough savings to put down 20% to avoid paying PMI, although mortgages with lower down payment requirements are available. You’ll also likely need another 2-5% of the purchase price for closing costs plus whatever you plan to spend on furniture, renovations, etc. This should be in addition to your emergency fund, which will be even more important with your home on the line.

Can you afford the higher payments? Contact a mortgage broker or loan officer to get a quote and see what your monthly payments would be with different purchase prices. Don’t forget to include estimated costs for insurance, taxes, utilities, and maintenance/repairs. Then see how this would fit into your current spending. It’s important to do this analysis before you even start looking at homes so you don’t fall in love with one and then talk yourself into being able to afford it.

Would buying be cheaper than renting? The rule of thumb is that you need to keep a home at least 3-5 years to make it worth the transaction costs and the risks of the home falling in value. You can do a more precision calculation with this Rent v Buy calculator from the New York Times that factors in everything from how long you plan to keep the home to the tax benefits of home ownership to the opportunity cost of not being able to invest the money you spend on the down payment. If you have a really good deal on rent, or home prices are particularly expensive, or you just don’t plan to stay put for long enough, renting may actually be more financially beneficial.

Are you ready emotionally? The numbers may make sense but they won’t matter if you don’t actually feel comfortable buying. Being a homeowner means freedom from a landlord but it also means being tied down to a home that you’re responsible for. No financial calculation can tell you if you’re ready for that.

Want more info on this or other financial topics? If you have a question you’d like answered on this blog, feel free to email me. You can also receive my future posts by following me on Twitter and/or subscribing to my posts on the blog home page.

Will You Be A “Boomerang Buyer”?

April 08, 2015

Since 2008, over 14 million homes have been lost to foreclosure. It may have been caused by a job loss, illness, or other heavy financial burden, but whatever the cause, losing a home can feel like a financial defeat….NOT SO! In 2014, roughly 10% of home purchases will be made by homeowners who lost their home to foreclosure or short sale between 2007 and 2013. These new homeowners, affectionately called “boomerang buyers,” did not give up on their desire to own a home and you shouldn’t either. Here are some steps you can take following a home loss to get back in a home of your own: Continue reading “Will You Be A “Boomerang Buyer”?”

Using Retirement Plan Assets for a First-Time Home Purchase

May 28, 2014

Updated June 14, 2017

First-time home-buyers are often surprised by the requirements of obtaining a mortgage, especially when it comes to your down payment. One way you can improve your chances of getting a home loan is by putting at least 20% down at the time of purchase. For existing homeowners like me, coming up with a 20% down payment usually starts with selling the home I’m in right now and using the equity to make a down payment on my next home.

But what about someone that may be buying a home for the first time? Coming up with a $50k down payment on a $250k home may take several years of aggressive saving, but your retirement account may not be a bad place to go for the additional funds needed to get you on the path to home ownership. In fact, the IRS offers certain breaks for taxpayers that choose to use retirement assets to purchase a first home.

Who qualifies as a first-time homebuyer?

Interestingly enough, you don’t actually have to be buying a home for the first time in your life to be considered a “first-time” homebuyer. IRS publication 590 defines a first-time homebuyer as any homebuyer that has had no present interest in a main home during the 2-year period ending on the date of acquisition of the new home.

In other words, as long as you haven’t lived in a home you owned for the last two years, you are considered a first-time homebuyer even if you owned a home previously. If you are married, your spouse must also meet this no-ownership requirement.

What are the tax benefits of using a traditional IRA for a first-time home purchase?

Well, as you probably know, when you take money out of a traditional IRA prior to age 59½ there is usually a 10% penalty tax for early withdrawal. However, the IRS offers an exception for first-time homebuyers: first-time homebuyers may withdraw up to $10,000 over a lifetime without penalty for first-time home purchases. Keep in mind that while the distributions are not subject to penalty, they are still subject to income taxes.

Does it make a difference if I use a Roth IRA?

It does. If you’ve owned a Roth IRA for at least five years, any distributions used for a first-time home purchase (subject to the $10,000 lifetime limit) are treated as qualified distributions. That means the amount distributed will not only be exempt from penalties, but also income taxes. If you have not owned a Roth IRA for at least five years, your distribution may still avoid penalties but some or all of it may be subject to income taxes.

One thing you should understand is that Roth IRA distributions are subject to ordering rules, which basically means any money you put in comes out first and is therefore not subject to taxes or penalties (since you already paid taxes on the money before it went in). Therefore, the exception described above is really only applicable after you have withdrawn all of your contributions.

Do I get the same benefits with an employer-sponsored retirement plan?

Not really. The only way to tap money in an employer-sponsored retirement plan (e.g. 401(k)) for a home purchase while you are working is through a plan loan or hardship. Plan loans are not subject to taxes and penalties—as long as you don’t default—but generally have to be paid back within five years (although some plans allow more years for funds used to buy a home). Also, if you leave work before paying off the loan, many plans require you to pay off the balance within a few months of separation or risk defaulting on the outstanding balance.

If you intend to use your employer-sponsored retirement plan assets to help pay for a home purchase, you may want to roll them over to an IRA after separation as the distribution rules for IRAs are generally more favorable than those of employer-sponsored retirement plans.

Is it a good idea to use retirement assets to purchase a home?

That depends. If you plan on using the equity in your home as supplemental income in retirement, some investors may consider this a good way of diversifying your retirement portfolio. However, if you have trouble making payments on the loan, not only could you end up losing your place to live, but you may also jeopardize part of your retirement nest egg. Read this Forbes article for more things to consider and like with all financial decisions, you should weigh your options carefully before deciding which approach to take.

How Much Should You Put Down On a Home?

March 20, 2014

You know spring is in the air when people start thinking about home buying. I recently got questions from several people asking about buying a home. One of the most common is how much to put down. Let’s look at a few things to consider: Continue reading “How Much Should You Put Down On a Home?”

The Challenges of Real Estate Investing

February 06, 2014

Last week, I discussed some of the advantages of investing in direct real estate for retirement. Of course, there are downsides to it too. Here are some of the challenges would-be real estate investors will face: Continue reading “The Challenges of Real Estate Investing”

Is There Hope or Doom on the Horizon?

July 19, 2013

For a long time now, I’ve talked to people who have found it relatively difficult to come up with a 20% down payment and banks have not been very flexible with the 20% down payment requirement. Things may be changing though. This article talks about what may be an encouraging sign for borrowers. It looks like there is some relaxing of the 20% rule now, with the return of the mortgage with a 10% down payment being seen more widely. Is this a sign of hope that banks are having money flow back into the economy? Continue reading “Is There Hope or Doom on the Horizon?”

Proper Mortgage Planning Helps Avoid Financial Challenges Later On

April 25, 2012

Financing a property is considered to be a good investment. If you plan properly and take out a mortgage for your home, down the road, it may turn out to be a great asset for you. However, if you make a wrong decision, then it can lead you to face severe financial challenges later on. So, proper mortgage planning is very important so that you can lead a stress free life after you take out a loan. Continue reading “Proper Mortgage Planning Helps Avoid Financial Challenges Later On”