Home prices are at 2005 levels and interest rates are low, making now a great time to buy a house. What is important, however, is to be cautious about how much home you buy. Gone are the days when you purchased as much home as you could afford and expected that your income would increase. Today it’s important to be able to ride out the vagaries of the job market and fluctuations in property values. Keep track of your credit rating so you can refinance if necessary. If you buy less house than you qualify for, you will be able handle unexpected bumps in the road.
Read the rest of this article here: Why You Shouldn’t Buy a House on a “Shoe String”
Carrie Rattle is a Principal at BehavioralCents.com, a website for women focused on mind and money behaviors. She has worked in the financial services industry for 20+ years and hopes to inspire women to better prepare themselves for financial independence.