The New York Times this weekend joined throngs of other analysts and media outlets in pointing out that there are multiple culprits to the financial collapse that is now a year old—and that we, in addition to bankers and brokers or lax government officials, are partly to blame. People had fallen into the habit of stretching their finances to buy as much house as possible for their first-time buy, the Times says, and the paper offers seven new rules of buying to replace this and other unreliable maxims of real estate. It begins with the basics—put 20 percent down, get a fixed-rate mortgage, and don’t spend more than 35 percent of your pretax income on your mortgage, property tax, and home insurance—and continues with more detailed advice such as mapping out your expenses and forecasting your future income. It’s more than we can reproduce here, but the full article is worth a read.
Seven New Rules for the First-Time Home Buyer [NY Times]
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