Financial Tips for First Time Home Buyers

Housing inventories are high and mortgage rates are low, even so, it’s as easy as ever to overestimate how much house you can afford and underestimate how much it’ll cost you. Following are a few tips for making your home purchase as cost effective as possible:

1.       Own or Rent?

Owning a home is expensive. In addition to the down payment and mortgage, you’ll have to pay for closings costs, insurance and maintenance. To figure out whether it’s financially smarter to buy or rent in your area, calculate and compare total home ownership costs to rental rates.

2.       Consider Monthly Costs

Even if you can scrounge up a down payment, figure out before buying a home whether you can comfortably cover the full costs of ownership–including the mortgage, taxes, insurance and regular fix-up costs.

3.       Obtain all the knowledge about Govn. Tax Policies for First Time Home Buyer

Government of India encourages purchase of house for those families who dont have single house of their own as a result of which Govn keep introducing various tax deduction and exception policies in Income Tax for the First Time Home Buyers. So, please before going for home purchase, first obtain complete knowledge about various Govn policies, deductions and exceptions. And if there is no policy available, but there are chances that Govn will declare one in the recent upcoming period which will decrease the prices of houses in the market or will provide great amount of deduction in the Income Tax, then wait till the time Govn announces its policy.

4.       Avoid Family-Assistance Tax Traps

Before taking assistance of money from your Mom and Dad for making down payment or full payment of house you are going to purchase, note that outright cash gifts can result in big tax bills. Avoid them by structuring parental assistance as a bona fide loan with minimum interest rates set by the Revenue Services.

5.       Consider High-Deductible Home Insurance

If you’re a do-it-yourself kinda person in case of moving into a new home, consider lowering your home owner insurance premium by raising the deductible. Even if you’re buying an older home, or aren’t too handy, it might not be cost effective to pay a lot in extra premiums to insure against that last dime of potential liability.

6.       Cut Insurance Costs By Upgrading

Security systems, smoke alarms and other upgrades can cut your insurance premiums. It can also pay to insure your home with the same company that covers your car, boat or other property.