Wondering if You Are Ready

Give this exciting journey the best possible start

You’re ready to stop renting. You’re ready for the pride and stability of owning a home. But are you really ready to buy? Get to a truly confident place with your decision by weighing your goals and yes, running some numbers.

Keep in mind…

When you’re qualifying for a loan, lenders look at your income, credit history, debt, and capacity to make mortgage payments.

Build a budget

Even if you’re not a spreadsheet person, building a budget is easier than you might think and will give you peace of mind. Explore the Keep budget builder.

Consider a fixed-rate

A fixed-rate loan has an interest rate that remains the same for the entire term of the loan. It’s the safest choice for first-time homebuyers.

Weigh pros and cons

Owning a home comes with life-changing benefits. You trade leases and potential rent hikes for more stability and freedom. You can make your home look and feel exactly like you want and every mortgage payment you make builds equity and personal security.

There are new costs and responsibilities, too. You’ll need to make room in your budget for all the new expenses that come with homeownership.

Your new home will ask for your time, as well: to keep track of and tend to maintenance and repairs.

Know what you can really afford

Whether you are making this investment with another person, or flying solo, money can be tough to talk about. We recommend having honest conversations with all parties involved. Start with a deep breath, lots of patience and consider some fun snacks.

If you need a path, Keep can guide you with tools for building a simple budget and getting a clear picture of your income, expenses, and how much of a mortgage payment you can handle.

Other expenses, like insurance, homeowner’s association dues, maintenance costs, and property taxes, can feel like a lot, but we promise you’ll be grateful to know exactly what to expect before you start.

Get savvy and qualify for a good loan

All lenders look for the same things: enough income to pay your mortgage, not too much debt, and good credit. The terms of your loan – how much a lender is willing to give you and at what interest rate – will reflect the relationship between those parts of your financial life.

You might find that the best choice is to take a pause to improve your credit, pay down some debt, or save for a bigger down payment. That is totally normal and doable and we can help you with that too.

Your credit score: know it, manage it

No matter what your credit score is, there are many ways to improve it, and most of them are pretty simple. The first step: demystifying!

Get an understanding how the process of determining credit score actually works and the strategies for ticking it up will feel more clear and attainable.

Take advantage of your free annual reports. String together on-time payments. Get your credit card balances below 30% of their limits. Good planning makes all of this improvement possible.

Feeling ready for the next steps?

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