Buying a home for sale is the dream of many people, but can be delayed due to personal and family finances that limit your purchasing power. Fortunately, there are creative ways you can go about buying a home to help you realize your home-ownership dream. Here are some financial tips and recommendations to help you get into a home and afford its purchase.
Finance the Down Payment
Getting the funds together to pay the down payment on your home can be one of the most difficult parts to buying a home. If you want to buy and don't want to wait to save up for the down payment, you can borrow the payment from an IRA retirement account, a hard money lender, or a friend or relative, then pay back the loan after you buy the home.
You can also talk to your real estate agent about asking the seller to finance the down payment. This allows you to buy the home then pay the seller back over time according to the loan contract you agree to during the buying process.
Rent to Own
Another way to help you get into your new home is to purchase it using a lease option. The way a lease option works is similar to a rent-to-own where you make lease payments to the seller for a period of time, then you have the option of buying the home at a pre-determined price. You will have to pay a down payment as a lease consideration, which is usually non-refundable, so if you decide to walk away from the home at the end of the lease period, you also walk away from the cash payment.
Make sure all the details are written into a lease option contract including items, such as the monthly lease payment, the lease time frame, and the amount at which you can buy the home after the leasing period ends.
Buy a Fixer-Upper
You can also buy a home that needs a number of repairs, making the home more affordable at the purchase but with a large amount of equity potential. When you buy the home, you can make the repairs as you live in it, working on it piece by piece to improve the home to its potential. These improvements you can pay for a little at a time, or finance them through your bank in the form of a personal loan or with a low-interest credit card.
After thinking long and hard about what to do with my living situation, I finally made the decision that it was time to buy a house. I was tired of living paycheck to paycheck because of rent, so I began working with professionals to guide me in the right financial direction. I was able to find a great company that offered exactly what I wanted to learn, and they walked me through the financial aspects of home ownership. Within a few short months, I was living in a gorgeous new home that I absolutely loved. Check out this blog for great advice on home ownership.