If You're Buying a House, Here's What Graham Stephan Thinks You Should Do to Get the Most Out of Your Purchase

You should read this Graham Stephan advice before you buy a home.

Buying a house is usually a smart financial investment. When you're a homeowner, your monthly payment helps you acquire equity so you eventually pay off your loan and own a valuable property free and clear. Ideally, you will also see the value of your home increase over time, which means your house provides not just a place to live but also a way to grow your net worth.

But, if you're buying a house right now, you're facing some challenges. One issue is that mortgage rates are higher than they have been in years, and another is that there's a possibility of a housing market crash following a buying frenzy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This does not mean you shouldn't purchase a property. But you need to be smart about it. Real estate investor, finance expert, and YouTube Personality Graham Stephan recently offered some important advice on what you should do to make the most of your purchase if you're thinking of buying now.

This is crucial if you're considering buying a house now

Stephan advised that you should buy a property now only under one condition. You can make the most out of your purchase and do the most to protect your investment dollars if you buy a house only if you plan to keep it for the long term.

"Buy property only if you are planning to keep it for 7-10 years," Stephan advised. He explained that he believes it is important to invest in real estate now only if you have a long timeline because the housing market is very speculative right now.

If you buy a home for the long term, you won't have to worry as much about your investment losing value. While the real estate market does decline during certain periods of time, it tends to correct itself eventually and so you will see housing prices go back up over a long enough time horizon.

If you're expecting to sell your home pretty soon after buying, you might find yourself not able to make back what you pay for it -- especially after covering the cost of closing fees and mortgage interest paid at today's high rates. But if you hold onto your home for at least seven to 10 years, odds are that property values will have recovered from any coming downturn and you should be able to make money on your investment.

Is Stephan right?

Stephan is spot on in suggesting that you shouldn't buy a house now if you intend to sell it very soon. There is a lot of uncertainty in what home prices will do both because prices were up a lot during the pandemic and because high mortgage rates could cause demand to fall in the short term.

In general, homes are not very liquid investments and they can take a long time to sell. They also come with lots of transaction costs both when you buy and sell. So buying only when you have a long time horizon is always good advice -- but it may be more important now than ever to think about your future plans and make sure you're comfortable staying put for a while.