Tyler End, CEO and Co-Founder of Retirable, who is a Certified Financial Planner, had someone come in [to his office] a couple of years ago. They said, “‘Hey, we really want to buy a house,’ but they had all these little debts [that could impact their interest rates],” said End.
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“They had a couple of credit cards they weren’t paying off on time; there were car loans, and stuff like that, and pretty high interest rates.”
End told them, “Before you buy this house, you want to get all this stuff in order.”
The clients had a substantial amount of money in their investment accounts, considerable money in their checking accounts, but they were carrying all these debts, said End.
“We came up with a strategy where we, one by one, focused on using their funds and prioritized those debt payments.
“We knocked four or five of those credit lines off, and before they applied for their mortgage, they were able to get a better interest rate.” The client bought a house this year.
This scenario is just one of many ways financial advisors help their clients get all their ducks in a row, so they can lock in lower interest rates and make better financial decisions before investing in a home purchase. Here are five reasons why you should speak to a financial advisor before you buy a home in the next five years.
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1. Gets the Best Financial Outcome By Planning Early
When you’re thinking of buying a home is the time you should start talking to a financial advisor. The sooner, the better, said End.
“A lot of what you need to get the best financial outcome of the purchase, a financial advisor is going to help you with.”
End said that the right ratio of your savings should be going toward paying down debt, saving for retirement, and building up a cash or checking account so you can put down a bigger down payment.
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2. Helps You Make Optimal Use of Your Money
Every time money comes in, ask yourself these questions:
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Should I put it in my emergency fund checking or savings?
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Should I save it for retirement or lock it into an IRA or 401K?
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Or should I use it to pay down debt?
“If your goal is to buy a house in five years, a financial advisor [will] tell you the optimal use for those dollars,” said End.
3. Shows You How To Reach Your Home Buying Goals
A financial advisor can give you a strategy for paying down debt, so it lowers your credit ratio and you’ll get a better credit rating for the mortgage, said End.
“Having a bigger down payment as your mortgage payment will be less when you actually buy the house;
End said that if you’re putting too much in your retirement accounts, you might have to delay buying a house because you won’t have enough [money] in your bank accounts for the minimum down payment.
“If you know what that goal is, the financial advisor is going to help you get there and tell you the best way to do it.”
4. Explains the “Real” Cost of Buying a Home
People don’t necessarily budget appropriately when they think of buying a house; they get hung up on the mortgage, but that’s just one piece of it, End said.
A financial advisor can help you understand the realistic costs associated with owning a home.
“What we see often is people saying, ‘Okay I’m paying $3,000 for rent, so I’ll just have a mortgage that’s $3,000,’ but it’s not the same thing,” End said.
“Then you have to figure property taxes, homeowners insurance…then there are a lot of carrying costs associated with owning a home, not just upgrades but repairs.”
5. Advises You How To Set Up a Liquid Emergency Fund
A financial advisor can recommend strategies for saving your money that can be accessed and turned into cash right away. Certain financial products might yield a higher interest rate, but you won’t be able to access your money when you need it in any emergency.
End said people have told him they used a CD because it gave them 5% interest but when they needed to pay for a repair, they couldn’t access their money.
“What’s important here is you don’t lock up the money; that’s where people can get in trouble,” said End.
“Generally, you want to use something that is liquid, meaning you can access it at any time.”
Fortunately, because interest rates are high, End recommends using a high-interest checking account so you can get that money out tomorrow if you want.
“You can build up a big buffer of three to six months of your income for emergency savings that you can tap at any time, ” he said.
But he said that requires discipline and not to be like, “Hey, I want to go to Paris to go to the Olympics.”
“It should be held away, and [you shouldn’t] touch it unless it’s an emergency.”
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 Reasons You Should Speak to a Financial Advisor Before You Buy a Home in the Next 5 Years