Your comprehensive guide to mortgages and finance

Key steps in preparing to purchase your home

Dream of owning your own place? State schemes are helping people buy a home. Photo shows new housing  at Cedar Court, Rathgoggin, Charleville, Co Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

When you go to make a purchase of any item – from a loaf of bread to thoroughbred horse, you need to have the price of the item in your pocket or on your bank card. In other words, you’re not going to purchase the item unless you’re prepared with your funds ready to be utilised.

For a house purchase, that’s essentially what you need to do – you need to ready your finances so that you’ll be able to act when you find the right home for you; to pounce on the opportunity in the highly competitive market that we live in today.