When you are in the market for a home you need to know the size home you can buy and ‘How big a mortgage can I afford?’ When you buy a house you must have a minimum of 20% down payment. You must have at least 3-5% of the total value of the house to pay the closing costs on the home. You will have to have enough disposable income left from your earnings each check to make the monthly payment. You cannot take on a payment that is too high because you will end up in default on the note and you can lose your house to foreclosure. You still have your other debt to pay and you have to pay utilities, make repairs on the house, and buy food and gas.
Before you apply with a lender for a home loan, look in the newspaper, drive around, or go online to look at prices of homes that you like. A rule of thumb in determining the amount that you can afford to pay for a house is to multiply the asking price by 80%. This will give you a rough estimate of what the mortgage payment will be, if you make a down payment of 20%. There are a lot of websites that you can use to input data that will calculate the mortgage payment for you.
When you find the home that you can afford, you must call the county assessor and find out what the property tax rate is for the home. The figure provided will be the annual taxes due and you will have to divide by 12 to get the monthly amount. You need to contact an insurance agent to find out what the hazard insurance on the property will cost. Again, this will be an annual rate and you will have to determine the monthly rate. If you are not paying 20% down on the home you will have to purchase private mortgage insurance (PMI). PMI can add a minimum of $50 to your monthly mortgage payment.
Add the principal and interest figure with the tax, hazard insurance, and PMI figures together. This will be the total monthly payment you will make on the home you are considering. Now, look at your budget. Can you afford this amount each month? You will have to estimate your utility payments and the maintenance fees on the home to this amount. A rule of thumb is to consider repairs to be around 1% of the total value of the home. If your house costs $150,000 then you multiply by .01 to get $1,500. The equation looks like this: $150,000 x .01 = $1,500. This is the annual amount that you will probably spend for repairs and maintenance on your home. Divide this amount by 12 to get your monthly estimate.
Compare your figures to your total income. If you multiply your income by 40% you should use this as your guideline for mortgage affordability. If you have worked through the above equations then you can estimate for yourself, ‘How Big of a Mortgage Can I Afford?’
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