If you are a 20-something thinking that you will buy a home in a year, be careful.

The time to be considering buying a home is *now*, not 12 months from now. The good news is that you don't need to wait 12 months to *start* thinking about it. Here's why you should consider acting sooner rather than later:<br><br>**If you don't buy a home in 12 months time, don't blame yourself.** You will almost certainly be surprised at how long the process takes. It is difficult to anticipate what the market will look like in 12 months and how quickly you'll be able to close on a purchase. Yeah, you've probably heard that 100 times before, but it's true. If you expect to buy a home in 12 months and don't end up closing for 24, you are almost guaranteed to feel frustrated. If you can't handle the unknown/surprises/delays, then you shouldn't be thinking about buying a home. It's a terrible idea.<br><br>**The time to start considering buying a home is now.** If you haven't already, pull your credit report and score *now*. If you find errors or inaccuracies, it can take multiple months to resolve them. If your score is lower than you anticipated, that score dictates how much you can qualify to borrow and what your mortgage interest rate will be. If you wait to check your credit until 3 months before you apply, you may find your credit score is lower than you anticipated and you are out of luck until you've improved it. If you pull your report now and find problems, then you have a 9 month window to improve it. Pulling your credit report *now* puts you in a much better situation than waiting.<br><br>**In addition to your credit**, you need to start *thinking about your history of employment and income*. If you have recently switched jobs and are still in your probationary period, it may be difficult to qualify for a mortgage without a longer period of employment history at your *current* job. If you have a variable income or commission, you may need to be able to show two years worth of tax returns. If you are taking *any* class or pursuing *any* training or certification, you need to be considering how it will affect your finances. If you are considering changing careers or pursuing additional schooling, the time to do it is before you buy a home, not after. If you are in a situation where there may be a change in your income or employment history, the time to be thinking about it is *now*, not 12 months from now. <br><br>**If you want to buy a home 12 months from now, start thinking about your money now.** First, you need to have an emergency fund in place. You should already have one for any situation, but owning a home places additional demands on your savings. If you don't already have one in place, start saving *now*. Second, you need to be saving for your downpayment. You need 20% to avoid PMI, but if you don't have that much you are considering putting less down, then you need to be considering PMI. You should be thinking about closing costs and inspections. If you can't cover closing costs and inspections then maybe you shouldn't be considering a home purchase. You need to *start saving now* if you want to be in a good position in 12 months. If you haven't already, you need to be considering how you will pay for *everything*. If you are used to living paycheck to paycheck or don't know how you will pay for closing costs or inspections, then maybe you shouldn't be thinking about buying a home. You need to *start thinking about these things now*.<br><br>The bottom line is if you are a 20-something thinking that you will buy a home 12 months from now, then you need to be thinking about it *now*. You need to start saving now. You need to start thinking about your money now. You need to start thinking about your job now. You need to pull your credit report and score now. If you wait until 3 months before purchasing to start thinking about these things, you will almost certainly be surprised at how long the process takes. If you want to buy a home in 12 months, you need to stop considering purchasing a home 12 months from now and start considering purchasing a home *now*.<br><br>Edit addressing comments:<br><br>* This post is intended for *20-somethings.* If you are older than that, then you likely already own a home or your circumstances are vastly different from a 20-something. If you are 40+ years old and don't already own a home, then you probably already know you need 20% and a good credit score.<br><br>* If you are already 3 months from purchasing a home, then you already know all of this. Your situation is vastly different from someone thinking they will purchase in 12 months. You likely already own a home or have gone through the process and already know that you need to start thinking about these things *now*.<br><br>* If you are in the military or equivalent, you are likely eligible for special benefits. This post is not intended for you. I'm just a regular person. While I sympathize with your sacrifices and difficulties, I don't have any advice on the special programs available to you.<br><br>* If you don't think you need 20% down, that's ok. If you are willing to pay PMI or have some other way around it, then that's ok. The point is not that you *need* 20%, the point is that you need to *start considering these things now*.