Many couples buy homes before they get married. Others wait until after the wedding day. It’s a personal decision and depends on a litany of factors — income, debt, relationship strength, the housing market and much more. What you decide is up to you, and either choice can be perfect, depending on your situation.
That said, if you’re mulling it over, it’s important to consider some of the reasons that couples make their decisions. Here are some reasons they choose to wait until after the wedding to buy a home together:
- Planning a wedding and reception is stressful enough. Getting married is a huge life change. You may also be planning a honeymoon. Some couples just feel like they have too much going on to think about buying a house as well, so they wait for life to settle down a bit.
- They want to create complete financial goals. Some couples focus on their long-term financial plans and where they want to be in 20 or 30 years. They may feel that it’s easier to do that after they get married and combine things like income, assets and debt.
- They’re just following the trends. According to some reports, a full 74 percent of couples that get mortgages together are already married. It’s a social convention and the majority of people do it.
- They want the stability of a marriage. Even a happy couple may be wary about buying a home together without the relative stability of a marriage.
Again, the decision you make is up to you, but this gives you some important things to consider as you look into the legal process of buying a home and all of the available options.