Before you rush out and start looking for a home to buy, it's important to take time to evaluate your life to make sure you are ready for this big step. Being a homeowner has a lot of benefits, but there are also a lot of responsibilities you will have if you own a home. To make sure you are ready to make this move, you may want to spend some time evaluating the following three parts of your life to make sure you are in the right place in life to buy a home.

Your personal life

You may never have thought you should evaluate your personal life before buying a house, but this really is a good step to take. As you do this, ask yourself the following questions:

• Are you in a stable position in life?
• Is your marriage or relationship status stable?
• Are you in the middle of any major problems?
• Is there anything going on in your life that could interfere with your ability to own a home?

These questions can help you determine if you are in a good, stable place in life, and this can help you determine if you are ready to buy a house.

Your job and income

The second part of your life to evaluate is your income and job. Is your job stable? Have you been at the same job for a year or longer? Can you rely on this job for future income? These are some of the questions to consider before you buy a house, simply because buying a house is a long-term investment. It takes most people 30 years to pay for a house, and this means that you will need to have income for the next 30 years to pay for it.

Your financial state

The other factor to evaluate relates somewhat to your job and income, but it takes these things a step further. When you evaluate your financial state, you should examine the following things:

• Your debts – Create a list of all the debts you have, and include the balances owed and the approximate date in which they will be paid off. You should add up how much your monthly payments are for all these debts, as this will help you determine if you can afford to buy a house.
• Your savings – Do you have money saved up to buy a home? This is an important factor to consider, because you will need money on hand to purchase a home.

Once you evaluate these parts of your life, you may find that now would be a great time to buy your first home. If so, you can begin by getting preapproved for a loan through a bank, and you can then meet with a real estate agent to help you find a home to buy.