THE ALPINE

What would you like to accomplish in 2014? It’s a big question, and you probably have more than one answer. Maybe this is the year you’ll take that trip abroad or stick to an exercise regimen — or maybe it’s the year you’ll finally meet that homeownership goal you’ve been dreaming about, whether that means buying your first home, relocating or refinancing.

Whatever your vision is for the year ahead, you’ll have to accomplish one thing first: getting your finances in shape. Just a little bit of smart financial goal-setting now might be the difference between realizing your homeownership dreams and putting them off until next year… or the year after that.

GOALS WORTH WORKING TOWARD

So, what goals should you tackle on the way to achieving homeowner bliss? Here are a few suggestions:

Save for a rainy day. Before anything else, work on putting away three to six months’ worth of expenses in a liquid savings account, which will be your security against going into debt if an unexpected expense pops up. Having an emergency fund provides peace of mind, and it’ll also guard your credit from unnecessary dings — which you’ll definitely appreciate when it’s time to qualify for a mortgage.

Build up your nest egg. You can’t go back in time and save for retirement. Before you spend a lot of cash on a home, make sure you’re stashing away as much as you can — preferably 10 to 15 percent of your monthly income, in diversified investments.

Get rid of debt. Saving for a down payment while your consumer debt grows is asking for trouble. It’s best to pay down all your debt before you take on an even larger loan. Not only that, but the lower your debt-to-income ratio is, the better the mortgage interest rate you’ll qualify for.

Save for a down payment. Once you have the rest of your financial ducks in a row, it’s time to start saving for your down payment. Try to set aside as much as possible — with a larger down payment, you’ll get a better interest rate and avoid fees. Of course, if you think you’ll struggle to save the traditional 20 percent in your preferred time frame, you have other options. Just talk to a mortgage advisor about the low-down-payment choices available to you.

STAYING ON TARGET

When it comes to financial goals, dreaming is the easy part — and it’s a great motivator! But reaching your goals also takes hard work. You can make the job easier on yourself by designing measurable, realistic objectives. Follow these tips to create financial targets you’ll actually meet:

• Be specific. Decide exactly what you want to accomplish before working towardit. (A fuzzy target is hard to hit!)

• Put your plans on paper. Writing down your goals and keeping them in a visibleplace makes them seem more real, more permanent and more achievable.

• Decide how much you’ll need to save. Overestimate if you need to — there’s notmuch that’s more frustrating than saving a long time for a large goal and coming up short.

• Pick a time frame. Be realistic, since unexpected expenses have a way ofcropping up, but choose a date that’s near enough to be motivating.

• Budget to get there. Figure out how much you need to set aside each monthto reach your target, and work out a household budget that allows you to save that amount. It’s helpful to set aside your savings before spending on anything discretionary — if you take these funds out first thing, you won’t miss them as much.

• Make adjustments. This might be the most important part of meeting your goals:understanding that setbacks happen, objectives change and revisions can be made to help keep you on track. Pay attention to your progress throughout the year, so you’ll be able to anticipate and plan for upcoming hurdles.

YOUR HOMEOWNERSHIP DREAMS — FULFILLEDYou may feel more than ready to own your dream home or secure better mortgage terms. But buying a new house, moving and refinancing have financial prerequisites that don’t just happen automatically and simultaneously with emotional readiness. That’s why setting smart goals is so important. If you’re ready to get serious about hitting your financial targets, talk to an Alpine mortgage advisor — we can help you plan out a course of action to achieve your biggest homeownership dreams.

© 2013 A Division of Pinnacle Capital Mortgage Corp. | Equal Housing Lender | NMLS 81395 | WA CL-81395 | AZ BK-910890Licensed by the Department of Business Oversight under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act. Regulated by the division of Real Estate Colorado.

BIG DREAMS FOR A

NEW YEARFINANCIAL

GOAL-SETTING FOR

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