When you decide to start looking for a new home, you can’t just rush out there unprepared. After all, there is paperwork, research, and much more that has to be done first. The more you know ahead of time, the easier your search for the perfect home will be.

Even if this isn’t your very first home, the market changes from year to year, and it always behooves you to learn what the market is like before heading out with your realtor. If you are curious about whether or not you’re truly ready to buy a home, take into consideration these four things.

1. How Are Your Finances?
   It isn’t just the down payment and the monthly note that you have to consider, because buying a home is much more than that. You have to determine if you’ll have enough money for the home inspection, the repairs or large purchases you’ll need after moving into the home, and the expenses you’ll need to pay on the day of closing, among others. Buying a home is a long-term commitment filled with expenses from day one, so you have to make sure that you can afford everything that you’re about to get yourself into.
2. Have You Thought About Why You Want to Buy a Home?
   People buy homes for many different reasons. The most important ones include having a sense of community and making an investment in the future. If you aren’t sure if now is the time to buy a house, you may want to look at some online financial websites and compare renting versus buying costs so that you can determine which option best suits your needs. If you’re planning to move in the next few years, for example, it might be better to wait to buy a house and just rent for now. A little introspection and a look at your finances and your short-term goals should help you make the right decision.
3. What Type of Shape Is Your Credit in?
   Every time you buy a house, the bank will pull a copy of your credit report, and it isn’t just your credit score they’ll be looking at. Late payments, how many loans you’ve taken out, and your debt-to-income ratio will all be considered, so before you get that realtor and start looking at houses, you have to make sure that your credit is good. The higher your score, the lower your interest rate will be. You might find that you need to work on your credit for a bit and come back later to buy a house.
4. Do You Have a Stable Job History?
   Qualifying for a loan is affected by many things, and one of the most important is your job history. If you switch jobs every year or so, banks may consider you a high risk, which may reduce the odds of getting a reasonable home loan. Your job history won’t affect your interest rates or any closing cost involved in the loan, but it will affect how much they trust you to make your loan payment each month. In their opinion, if you can’t be trusted to stay in a job for a while, you might not be trustworthy when it comes to a 30-year mortgage.