Moving to a new home can be an exciting time for you and your family. Before you make the move, though, it’s important to save up plenty of money so that you can afford a good down payment, plus any unforeseen expenses that may come up. This saving is especially important if you’re moving to a new area, as expenses could be different than what you’re used to. To help increase your financial fitness, here are some tips to help families save up for a new house in a new area.
Set Goals
If you don’t know how much money you want or need to save, then you’ll never find the discipline to be able to save at all. That’s why setting goals for yourself is a vital part of saving to buy a new house in a new area. After doing some solid research, set a realistic and achievable goal that you can talk about with your entire family. A standard mortgage can require as much as a 20% downpayment. But there are other options available based on government insurance programs that can reduce the downpayment to 5% or even zero.
Talking about the goal openly will help you stay accountable and ensure everyone can share in the excitement as you get closer to the goal.
Study the Area
As mentioned, one challenging part of saving to buy a house in a new area is that you may not know what the living expenses are in that area. Therefore, before you begin saving, it’s a good idea to do some research on the living costs so that you know if you can truly afford to live in a certain area. Real estate services can come in quite handy here, as they often have detailed information about a host of demographics pertaining to the cities they serve.
Short-Term Pain
If a new home is your goal, then you need to devote as much money as possible toward achieving that goal. This means you may need to experience some short-term pain for the long-term gain of owning a new home. Short-term pain can take on many different forms but may include less spending on eating out, watching movies, taking trips, buying new electronics, and eliminating other non-essential spending that will make your savings goal harder to attain.
Make Your Money Work
As you begin to save your money, it’s important to make that money work for you so that you can achieve your savings goals more quickly. Depending on how soon you are looking at buying a home, there are a variety of different savings accounts and interest-bearing options that will help you earn money without lifting a finger. Even a low-yield savings account is better than simply putting your money in a checking account until you’re ready to use it.
Stay Focused
Saving for a new home is a marathon, not a sprint. This means that there will be times when discouragement may strike, such as when your savings aren’t adding up as quickly as you’d like. That’s why it’s important to consistently remind yourself of the goal and all of the perks that will come with it. Staying focused will also make it easier to avoid dipping into your savings for momentary pleasures that aren’t at all necessary.
Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most of her time hiking, biking, and gardening. For more information, contact Brooke via Facebook at facebook.com/brooke.chaplan or Twitter @BrookeChaplan
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