Are You Ready to Buy a Home Together?

Relationships go through a lot of important milestones: first date, first kiss, first anniversary. For many couples, buying a home together is also a big milestone, but it shouldn’t be rushed into without a lot of thought. You might be swept up in the romance of it all, but you also need to sit down and have an open and honest talk about each other’s financial values and status. If you can answer “yes” to all of the following questions, you and your partner may be ready to take the next step and buy a home together.      

You Know the Full Financial Picture

Before you decide to buy a house together, you both need to have a clear understanding of each other’s financial health. Break out the paperwork and go over each other’s debt load, savings, income, and assets. If you’re both young, it might be more reasonable to live together for a while and pay off debt. Once that’s clear, you can work on saving toward a down payment together. If you’re in it for the long haul, your relationship can withstand waiting an extra year or two to buy.

You Know Each Other’s Financial Values

Are you the type who pays everything in plastic, crossing your fingers you don’t get declined? Is your partner the type to monitor every penny? Do you grind your teeth every time your partner buys Starbucks instead of making coffee at home? Fights about money are the most common predictor of divorce, so it’s important that you’re both on the same page or can at least find common ground.

You Have Open Communication

When you and your partner talk about money, things should be calm and logical, not tense and emotional. If the topic of money causes instant friction between the two of you, you’re probably not ready to buy a house together. If you can’t talk about finances now, how will you handle it when your washing machine leaks or your furnace needs to be replaced, costing you thousands? What if someone loses their job or has to take a pay cut? If you can both openly and honestly talk about finances together, then you’ve got at least one important component figured out.

You See a Future Together

This may seem obvious, but you should only buy a house together if you see a long-term future with this person. If your relationship is at all bumpy right now, adding the stress of combined finances and homeownership to the mix might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. It is not easy to turn back the clock once you’ve bought a house, so make sure you’re 100% sure before you start the process. If you’ve said “yes” to all these questions, you’re ready to buy a home with your partner. Contact an Ottawa mortgage broker from The Mortgage Advisors to find out which mortgage solution makes the most sense for the both of you.