Are You Ready To Buy A Home? Ask Yourself These 8 Questions First

Picture this: You’re strolling along your regular dog-walking route, and you catch yourself gazing longingly at the neat row of houses on the idyllic tree-lined street. You can’t help but imagine what it’d be like if it was your house. Family nights in a spacious living room, entertaining friends on a back patio overlooking your (hopefully) thriving vegetable garden, your precious pup getting his zoomies out in the yard. You wonder if it’s time to get serious about buying a home.

You and your friends have debated the possibility of purchasing a home over a coffee. The conversation might start with interior design choices (to accent wall or not to accent wall?) but settles on a central question: How do you know when it’s the right time to buy a house?

It turns out there’s no such thing as the “right time.” Taking your homebuying journey away from the brunch table to the front porch of your new place, keys in hand, is a highly personal decision based on your financial and emotional readiness. To kick the process off, ask yourself key questions to gauge where you’re at and go from there.

If you’re already feeling overwhelmed, there’s some good news: You don’t have to go at it alone. Bank of America’s Community Homeownership Commitment program provides solutions for prospective homebuyers, including affordable mortgages, grant programs (aka: money you will not need to repay), as well as financial education resources, and financial expertise. With these tools, answering these essential questions can be easier — and more hopeful — than you think. Shall we get started?