A huge number of people have a dream of owning a home either at the present moment or in the future. Truthfully speaking, being a homeowner is a major goal for most people in our culture. However, owning a home is a huge commitment and without proper planning, it is easy to find yourself overwhelmed. There is nothing more frustrating that missing out on one of your dreams simply because you did not lay the proper foundation to achieve the dream. To avoid getting stuck with just a dream to own a home, here are several important money tips you can make use of to ensure you become a homeowner in the future.

1. Establish A Goal When It Comes to Saving Money and Stick to It!

When acquiring a home, you have to pay a down payment to the property owner while the rest of the money is provided by your mortgage lender. In Houston, Texas, depending on the type of mortgage loan you have as well as the size of your loan, most home owners ask for a down payment of five percent. Across the United States, down payments for buying a home can be as low as three percent. In some instances, such as when you have a USDA and VA loan, you may not be required to put up any form of down payment when purchasing a house.

When buying a home, if you do not want to pay high mortgage insurance premiums, you have to put up a down payment of about twenty percent or higher. For example, if your dream home is on sale for $300,000, you have to fork out twenty percent of this amount which is $60,000 as well as appraisal fees, inspection fees and other associated closing costs. If you want to move in to your dream home within a period of two years, calculations show that you need to be saving at least $1,250 every month.

If you want to save enough money to put up a down payment of $60,000, you need to create a budget immediately. Through budgeting, you can balance your income and expenses so that you are able to save $1,250 at the end of each month to make your housing dream a reality.

2. Pay Your Bills Automatically

As an adult, you have to consider a lot of utility bills and fixed expenses such as cell phone, gas, internet, water, rent, gym, electricity expenses and many others. Though you may try to stay on top of all your bills, it is very easy and feasible to miss a payment every once in a while.

By paying your bills automatically, you can ensure that you never miss another bill deadline. How does paying bills through autopay help you in saving for your dream home? Remember that if you are constantly late on your bills, you can get slapped with fines. Though there are some companies that may waive additional fines if you contact their service departments, there are others that are very strict. You can therefore do your wallet a big favor by signing up for autopay.

With autopay, you do not need to keep bills at the top of your mind. Autopay usually automatically deducts money from your account and pays for your bills and expenses.

If you are not paying fines for late payments, you will definitely have more cash to put in your savings account at the end of each month and will bring your housing dream a reality.

3. Send Yourself A Monthly Bill

You probably have enough bills but you should definitely add this bill to your stack as it can assist you to save enough money to make a down payment on your dream residence. Most financial establishments have online banking platforms through which you can make automated payments. Consider setting a ‘saving for a house down payment’ account and schedule it so that at the end of each month, some money is deducted from your checking account and automatically transferred to the savings account for your house down payment. In the long run, you will realize that billing yourself was highly beneficial as it allowed you to withhold money that you would otherwise have spent for your dream home.

Automated savings are ideal for meeting savings goals. You simply set the savings account and forget about it until you reach your target savings amount.

4. Clear Your Debts

Paying debts can actually help you in saving for your dream home and can make you confident in achieving your housing dream a reality. According to recent statistics, every Houston resident has $8,500 in consumer debt while each household has an average credit card debt of $6,375. Keep in mind that high debts attract high rates of interest. On cutting down on your debts, you will be better suited to start saving more freely. It is very easy to get indebted but very hard to get out of debt. Paying credit card debts can seem like a never-ending uphill struggle. Make a decision to start breaking the debt chains which bond you today.

5. Identify the Most Ideal Way to Save

You can decide to save money by stuffing it under your mattress but why not put the cash in an account where it will earn interest? Though you can also choose to save in high return investments such as real estate trusts, if you are saving to buy a house, it is better to stick to more ‘boring’ methods of saving.

If you are looking to own a house within a certain period of time, it is best to put your money in a savings account. Though there are high investment options like stocks, they are not ideal when you are saving for a house as they involve too much risk.

6. Remember That Small Things Accumulate to Form Huge Things

Maybe you are like me and tend to cook too much food that you do not need. At the end of the week, your fridge is full of leftovers that you have to throw away – a true testament to your lack of control. Maybe you like brushing teeth while your taps are on or you leave all your lights on even when you do not need them. The point that am trying to make is that each unit you waste usually adds up. Remember that a dollar is made up of 100 cents. If you save on small things around your house, they can end up making a big difference.

Consider taking putting the six tips discussed above into action as they will help you buy your dream home. Though they may sound easy to follow, they actually require a lot of commitment and dedication. If you lose sight of your goals, you will only end up blaming yourself as you may not own your dream home.

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