The “How America Views Home Ownership,” survey by Wells Fargo & Company was recently conducted to see American's perceptions on owning a home. While data shows that investors are showing optimism in the re-emerging market, many consumers are uninformed on the requirements of buying a house.
You need to have a good credit score to buy a house
One misconception the survey points out is that nearly half of the people surveyed believed that having a good credit score was necessary to purchase a house with 45 percent saying you would need to have a credit score above 780 and 29 percent were unsure of the credit score needed. However, according to Wells Fargo a credit score above 780 is generally considered “excellent” and a score above 660 is considered “good.”
You need to have a substantial down payment
Survey participants felt that a substantial down payment was necessary to purchase a house, with 36 percent saying they believed a down payment of 20 percent was needed. But Wells Fargo says that is not true and 3-3.5 percent is typically OK with many lenders.
The survey also found that 54 percent of participants view owning a home as an “achievement to be proud of,” and 30 percent viewing it as “a dream come true. 72 percent believed that now is a good time to buy a home, which is up from 68 percent in 2014.
Real estate is on an upswing and if buying a house is something you have been thinking about, do yourself a favor and look into it, you may be surprised at how qualified you are to buy your first home.