By: Joe Kustra
Joe Kustra is a Home Loan Expert with Quicken Loans and brings more than five years of mortgage experience to share with you on the Quizzle Blog. Joe loves to help and educate people about how to get in the right financial situation for their goals and circumstances.
Q: I’m thinking about buying a home. How much I should put down?
A: When deciding on how much you should put aside for a down payment on a home, it’s important to look at your overall financial situation. Buying real estate is usually one of several investments and large expenses you will have over your lifetime. A good place to start is to discuss your options with a mortgage professional, who can let you know what the minimum down payment requirements are for various loans and how the size of your down payment will affect your monthly mortgage payment.
Once you have an understanding of what loan options are available to you, you may want to meet with a financial advisor. A good financial advisor can assist you with sorting out and prioritizing your short- and long-term financial goals. That way, you can make sure putting money toward an individual goal like a home makes sense and doesn’t compromise your long-term goals.
From my experience, here are a few additional rules when deciding how much to put down on a home:
- Avoid taking a draw or loan from your 401(k).
- Do not draw money from your 3-6 month emergency fund, aka your rainy day fund.
- Evaluate your decision to purchase a new home seriously if you don’t have an emergency fund.
- Look at paying off your high interest credit cards before buying a home.
To find out how you can get into the right home loan for your personal situation, you can contact Joe at 800-QUIZZLE (784-9953) Ext. 14111. Or make sure to always have Joe’s information at your fingertips right inside of Quizzle by creating an account through Joe’s personal link: http://www.quizzle.com/invite/joekustra