I am fortunate to meet great people every day in this job, and many times, I get to experience some great moments in relationships. Moving in together, engagement, marriage, kids, etc. etc. those are all common reasons people decide it’s time to move “up” either by selling their current home, or buying their first one together, or sometimes both. But there’s always some tricky steps involved…so today I ask the question: when is the best time to buy a house if you’re a couple?
Top 3 things to consider if you’re NOT married:
1. How do you take ownership of the property? At closing, you can pick how you take title, which basically means what happens to the portion of the house you own should your untimely death occur (upbeat, I know).
2. How will you pay for the house? Are you going to split all costs 50/50? Will one person be buying it? Will both of you be on the loan and the deed to the house? Talk about finances the minute you start to THINK about buying a house. There will be a lot of things that will require money even after you close, so make sure the conversation about money is open and you’re comfortable. Just for fun…keep in mind that at some point you may need to fork up some extra cash for a ring….do you have enough for the down-payment AND the bling? 😉
3. What happens if you break up? Who gets to “keep” it? Or will you sell it? How will you agree to pricing if you need to sell it?
The old adage is “first comes loves, then comes marriage, then comes Justin Bieber in the baby carriage.” No where in there does it say “next comes biggest purchase of your life,” so whenever you feel it’s the right time for YOU to start looking, let’s talk! I can help make some things clearer when you start entertaining the idea.
Thank you! This was a very timely article for me and Ian. We were having all of these discussions last weekend. 😉
Good! Can’t wait til we start looking at places for you two 🙂