Home Buying & Moving Advice for Engaged Couples

The time period between the engagement ring and the beautiful ceremony is an exciting – and super stressful – journey to experience for most engaged couples. You’re planning a new life with the love of your life, not to mention a big bash to celebrate. But, as if life couldn’t get any more complicated, you and your partner have set your hearts on buying a home to kick off this new, wonderful stage of your lives.

While not recommended by some experts, plenty of couples have indeed pulled off the quadruple whammy feat – Engagement, Wedding, Homebuying, Move. Read the following tips on what to consider when buying a house while planning a wedding, followed by tips on how to execute a successful move:

As a couple firmly committed to each other, you’re on the cusp of sharing many assets. You feel lucky that, together, you jointly possess a decent amount of money for a down payment, home furnishings, and closing costs, as well as the cost of the wedding. Having a comfortable margin makes all the difference. There’s a sweet “Why not?” behind your eagerness to secure your dream of settling together in a newly acquired home. However:

Timing It Right 

It typically takes several months for a couple to find the right home, visiting potential homes once or twice a week. Some couples find the right place on the first few rounds of searching, while others take longer. A matter of kismet, it’s entirely possible you won’t find the right home before the wedding.

Still, with the right motivation level, luck, and a good supply of housing on the market, sooner or later you’ll find the house. From this point forward, some experts estimate it can take between one to two months until you can close on the home and move in.

Whether this happens before or after the wedding is a matter of the universe to decide. During this time, however, you’ll be putting your loan documents together and getting yourselves ready to move. Try all you can to avoid a moving day date too close to your wedding date. Two major events taking place within a short span of time can lead to all sorts of difficulties, which can inadvertently cast a pall on two important milestones.

Should You Consider Buying a Foreclosed Home

While definitely worth considering, know that the process of buying a foreclosed home is very different from that of a typical resale.

For the most part:

• Only one real estate agent brokers the deal.
• The seller requires a preapproval letter from a lender before considering your offer.
• There is little (practically zero) room for negotiation.
• The home is sold as-is, which means the buyer will have to pay for any repairs.
• Beneficially for the buyer, most homes owned by the bank are vacant, which means you can move in sooner.

All in all, you get fantastic pricing for the house but it takes visiting a lot of prospective houses and writing a lot of offers to land you the house you ultimately desire.

Talk Money Ahead of Time

Pegging a budget to determine how much you’re willing to spend on the house, professional movers, and new furnishings is important for every new couple looking to buy a home together. Make the big money decisions upfront so that the moving process doesn’t get out of hand financially. 

Divvy Up Tasks

Merging two households requires great organizational skills.Turn to a household organizer to help you keep track of to-do lists (split between you and your partner) and the projected timelines of each task on the lists. Check your household organizer regularly to keep tabs on your progress. Constantly communicating your assigned duties to each other is also an efficient way to get you moving, and settling down, successfully.

A Final Thought

It’s no easy matter to pull off a home purchase and move on top of organizing a wedding. But if you’re one of the lucky couples prepared to accomplish this, don’t forget to stop and celebrate your victories along the way – whether they’re big or small. With each small celebration, remind yourselves that all of your hard work has been an investment and that you can look forward to a wonderful new stage of life with your soon-to-be wife or husband in a cute, adorable home of your own. Good luck with the entire process!