2 Major Challenges Of Buying A House As A Full-Time Blogger
Being a full-time blogger comes with plenty of perks, but it can also have a few challenges. Effectively, most of the issues revolve around your financial life. As a blogger, you are self-employed. This means you make your own money and don’t work for anyone else.
You’re not given a set wage every month, and you don’t get any benefits. Already, this can be seen as a drawback – though it depends on how successful your blog is. If it’s really successful, you might make more money than you could ever make by working for someone else.
Nevertheless, a common problem for full-time bloggers – and anyone that’s self-employed – is the challenge of buying a house. When you decide you wish to invest in property and stop renting, it can be harder to get your hands on some real estate.
Why is this the case? Well, let’s take a look…
You Lack A Stable Source Of Income
For bloggers, the process of buying a home starts out the same as anyone else. You hop online, do some research, look at the homes for sale in your area, and consider how much you can afford.
The problems start when you actually initiate your interest in a property. Here, you will most likely need to apply for a mortgage loan to buy the property.
Mortgage providers will take various things into account when approving your loan. One of the biggest concerns is whether or not you possess the financial capacity to repay the loan and keep up with payments.
If they don’t believe your financial situation guarantees you can manage this, they’re unlikely to offer you a loan. They might reject the application entirely, or they offer a much smaller loan which means you have to start looking at homes on a smaller budget.
Why is a mortgage provider less likely to approve your mortgage than someone with a full-time job? Well, it comes down to your source of income. If you’re employed, the mortgage provider knows exactly how much money you get each month.
Therefore, they have more confidence in the fact that you can repay the loan. As a blogger, your income can fluctuate dramatically. There’s more risk involved, so mortgage providers can be more cautious when approving the application.
What if your blog isn’t successful for one month?
You might make hardly any money, meaning you’re unable to make your payment for that month. If this keeps happening, it creates complications for the mortgage provider. So, that’s basically why it is harder for you to obtain a mortgage – and then buy a house – as a full-time blogger.
Increase Your Chances
Thankfully, mortgage providers aren’t as strict towards self-employed individuals as they once were. There are way more people working for themselves than there used to be, but you will still need to jump through more hoops than a full-time employee. Generally, there are three things you can do to increase the chances of getting a mortgage and buying a home as a full-time blogger:
- Offer a larger downpayment
- Improve your credit score
- Provide evidence of your earnings over at least two years
Offering a larger downpayment means you need to apply for a smaller loan. Therefore, it makes repaying the loan easier, which can make a mortgage provider more likely to let you have one. Of course, this could mean you spend a long time saving up for a downpayment – but it could be worth it.
Your credit score will always be crucial as it shows how worthy you are of obtaining credit. Self-employed individuals with an excellent credit score will basically prove to lenders that they can borrow money and pay it back on time. Thus, the risks associated with being self-employed are pretty much diminished.
Finally, if you can go back through the last two years (at least) and provide tax returns that show your earnings, it can also eliminate your self-employed risks. This proves that you are capable of making money every month, and it can show that – even though you’re self-employed – you do still make a relatively stable income each month. Of all the tactics used to help you get a mortgage, this is probably the best one.
Overall, buying a house as a blogger can be challenging because it’s harder for you to get a mortgage. However, this doesn’t mean it’s impossible. With the three tips above, you can boost your chances of getting a loan, letting you go out and find the house of your dreams.
