{"id":5177,"date":"2018-03-22T13:40:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T20:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/?p=5177"},"modified":"2025-07-16T15:14:50","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T22:14:50","slug":"four-questions-to-ask-yourself-before-signing-a-mortgage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/blog\/four-questions-to-ask-yourself-before-signing-a-mortgage\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Questions to Ask Yourself Before Signing a Mortgage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Asking the right questions is an important part of every financial decision you make, and home ownership is no exception. If you\u2019ve been thinking about buying a place, preliminary research will turn up a long checklist of questions for you to ask at every part of the process. There are questions for your financial institution, questions for your mortgage broker and questions for your real estate agent. But what about the questions you should be asking yourself?<\/p>\n

Owning a home is likely the largest financial commitment you\u2019ll make in your life, and it\u2019s easy to get caught up in details pertaining to debt-to-income ratios, the real estate market, current interest rates and amortization schedules. But financials are only a part of the picture. In order to make a truly smart decision, you need to acknowledge and accommodate some personal factors along with the financial ones. Asking yourself the following four questions will help you determine whether or not you\u2019re ready to own a home:<\/p>\n

1. Why do you want to own a home?<\/h2>\n

Seriously, why is owning a home important to you? (Don\u2019t answer with what you think you should answer; be honest with yourself.) Are you looking to build equity? Does it just seem like something a \u201csuccessful adult\u201d needs to do? Do you see it as an investment? Do you think renting is somehow inferior to owning? Are you just fed up with your landlord? Do you see it as a symbol of your freedom and independence? Do you have a Pinterest board of home renovation ideas you\u2019re dying to try? Do you think it\u2019s something that all (insert age here)-year-olds should do?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no \u201cright\u201d answer to this question (even though some reasons might be more frivolous than others). By simply observing what surfaces when you ask yourself these questions, you\u2019ll get some insight into why you\u2019re contemplating buying a home in the first place. Are your motivations fueled by practicality or insecurity? Is it something you want, or simply something that everyone else seems to be doing? You\u2019ll be able to tell if you\u2019re in it for the right reasons.<\/p>\n

2. Are you okay with staying put?<\/h2>\n

To make the most out of buying a home, you need to be in it for the long haul (which, in this case, usually means at least five to seven years). There\u2019s a reason why short-term home ownership isn\u2019t a thing outside of those real estate flipping TV shows\u2014it\u2019s a great way to lose a lot of money. Your home, like any investment, needs time in order for its value to grow (and that growth isn\u2019t guaranteed, by the way). By selling your home after only a couple of years, you\u2019re at the mercy of real estate market swings and your home may not have increased in value enough to break even\u2014especially when you factor in closing costs and other additional expenses that go along with buying a home. If the thought of staying in one place for more than one year makes you feel panicky, then it might not be the right time for you to buy.<\/p>\n

3. Are you happy?<\/h2>\n

Stability is key when it comes to buying a home, and so anything that threatens that stability could also potentially cause some major headaches once you\u2019ve signed the mortgage papers. Do you love what you do for a living? Do you have job security? Do you enjoy living in your neck of the woods? Is your personal life stable?<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t want to be in a situation where you purchase a home and then find yourself faced with the need to change things up. A career change, the start or end of a relationship or a sudden onset of wanderlust could all interrupt your plans to stay put and build equity. Of course, life can be unexpected even when you\u2019re happy\u2014but generally speaking, if you\u2019re pleased with where you\u2019re at, dramatic changes won\u2019t be looming around the corner.<\/p>\n

4. Is your savings account up for the challenge?<\/h2>\n

Have you done your homework and figured out how much home you can afford, based not only on the monthly mortgage payments, but also on all of the other expenses, such as property taxes, insurance, homeowners association fees, and utilities, to name just a few? Regular monthly expenses aside, home ownership can serve up all sorts of expensive surprises, and you\u2019ll want to make sure your savings account is up for the challenge. Save up for inevitable home repairs and maintenance\u2014the financial responsibility of maintaining a household (appliances, heating, plumbing and landscaping) can take new homeowners by surprise. You\u2019ll also want to beef up your emergency fund so that you have some flexibility and can continue paying your mortgage if you suddenly find yourself with health or job troubles. If your savings are healthy, you\u2019ll also want to consider budgeting for moving expenses, furniture, and home upgrades before making the move.<\/p>\n

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On the surface, home ownership can seem like a smart and appealing option, especially if your mortgage payments work out to be lower than what you would be paying to rent. However, rushing into a mortgage can set you up for a ton of stress (financial and otherwise). Before you buy, check in with yourself to make sure that you\u2019re well prepared, that the timing is right and that you\u2019re doing it for the right reasons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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\"Anna<\/div>\t\t\t\t
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Anna Albertin<\/h3>
Vice President of Mortgage Lending<\/div>

Anna Albertin<\/strong> is the Vice President of Mortgage Lending at Sound Credit Union, where she plays a vital role in overseeing real estate lending operations. With a strong focus on member education, Anna is dedicated to helping individuals navigate the mortgage process and make informed financial decisions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Owning a home is likely the largest financial commitment you\u2019ll make in your life, and it\u2019s easy to get caught up in details pertaining to debt-to-income ratios, the real estate market, current interest rates and amortization schedules. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":16151,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[233,240,168,172,241],"class_list":["post-5177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-finances","tag-buying-a-home","tag-equity","tag-home-ownership","tag-mortgage","tag-saving"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16152,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5177\/revisions\/16152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soundcu.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}