According to Ramit Sethi, These Are the Real Questions You Should Be Asking When Buying a Home

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You don’t want to rush into buying a home or make the decision to purchase for the wrong reasons. As a result, it’s important to think carefully about certain key issues before moving forward with getting a mortgage and signing an agreement to buy.One finance expert, Ramit Sethi, believes that many would-be homeowners are actually asking the wrong questions before they make a decision on homeownership. On Twitter recently, he suggested some alternative issues to focus on instead, which aren’t on many people’s radar.Here’s the questions Sethi recommends asking before purchasing a property of your own.Have you thought about these issues before buying a home?Sethi says that many people focus on superficial issues when they think about homeownership. Specifically, he points out that people ask questions about issues like the types of countertops the home has or how the bathroom can be remodeled to be more to their liking.Rather than focusing on these cosmetic matters, Sethi instead suggests asking yourself two key questions before putting in an offer.The first of those questions relates to a common prohibition found in many parts of the country. He recommends asking yourself, “Why am I legally prohibited from building an ADU or eliminating the front yard on my own property?”And the second question he suggests focusing on is whether you have run the numbers to compare the costs of buying and renting.Is Sethi right?Sethi is 100% right to point out that you shouldn’t focus just on what a house looks like. Obviously, you want to like the aesthetics of the place that you live. But a home is a major investment. For most people, it’s their most valuable asset — and the mortgage most people take out to purchase their property will likely be the largest financial obligation they assume during their lifetimes.You do want to be sure that buying actually does make financial sense. And, comparing the costs of renting versus buying is a good way to do that. If you can rent a comparable property for much less than the costs of purchasing one and you can and will invest the difference in a brokerage account, you might end up with a higher net worth over time.As to the question of why you can’t eliminate the front yard or add an ADU (which is an accessory dwelling unit that you could potentially rent out or allow family members to live in), these are bigger issues that have to do with the economics of housing in the United States.Unless you actually want to eliminate your front yard or build an accessory dwelling unit, these issues may not impact you directly — but they can be worth thinking about to get a better understanding of why housing costs have risen so sharply in America and what property rights limitations really mean for the public.Ultimately, before buying a home, it’s important to consider the big picture, including restrictions that will be imposed on you by zoning rules or the HOA as well as the costs of owning. You may still decide that buying is what you want — but don’t go into the decision just focused on what your future home will look like, or you could regret it. 

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