When Is The Right Time To Buy A Home?

Everyone knows that things change all the time, and of course families change as well. Some of the changes are expected: children grow up, learn to drive, go off to college. Some of the others can be unexpected, such as a serious illness or death in the family, or a breakup of the family unit. Prior to deciding to buy a home you should look at your family structure objectively. Are the relationships that bind that family together strong and resilient, or could the stresses of home ownership tip the balance and lead to a breakup?

Your financial status must also be examined and not only from the point of your current income, but your future prospects. Are you employed in an industry that is collapsing, such as automobiles or investment banking? Is your skillset being made obsolete by technological developments? Are you sick and tired of your job and want to quit, or worse yet are on the cusp of being fired? All of these aspects have to be considered as although they may not have a bottom line bank balance impact today, they may in the very near future.

Will you be facing significantly increased expenses in the near future? If you have children who are about to go off to university, you may find that the costs of tuition and residence can be staggering. Do you have a parent who will be requiring assisted care or be facing the purchase of medical or mobility equipment? If so, these costs can add up quickly as well.

Increased expenses could occur in your own life as well. Are you suffering from a condition such as heart disease or obesity which could prevent you from continuing to work full time, if at all? Are you stressed out and feel you can't keep this pace much longer? Are you involved in a dangerous industry where the likelihood of lasting injury is a significant factor? Are you likely to be transferred out of town, or want to seek employment elsewhere?

It is clear that should any of these factors be deemed to be a strong mitigating factor, the prospect of taking on a loan obligation of hundreds of thousands of dollars may not be advisable. Fortunately most families do not face such drastic changes and are stable enough to weather most storms that might occur for them. In those cases there should be no reason why home ownership should be put off, when you can start enjoying the benefits right now.

Lorri Brewer has over twenty years of experience and she knows it is possible to buy and sell a home at the exactly wrong time from the standpoint of market dynamics. In the severe real estate corrections recently seen in our beautiful city, some buyers who bought at the peak and then either panicked or were forced to sell at the trough lost many thousands of dollars. However, purchasing Edmonton residential or rural real estate has to be seen as a long term strategy and as such, there are few times in the swings of the economic pendulum when buying your own home is counter-indicated.