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I do these all the time and get results all over the universe. Some tell me I can afford ridiculously expensive homes (which I don't want) and others tell me I can barely afford to survive (I don't think that's true ?).
I'm looking for a realistic, tough one. I think the Smart Money one might be it - I just did it and can afford to live in my current state, but not NJ if it's accurate (after the taxes, I'd need a home price that probably doesn't exist there).
Anyway, I wanted to get some opinions as to other good ones. I'm hoping that I won't need to move out of my rental house until the end of next April and am saving and paying down debt like mad until then. (I say I'm hoping I won't have to because there is an ongoing mold issue and if it doesn't get taken care of I really am just going to have to move).
The one your lender will use if/when they qualify you.
Quote:
I'm looking for a realistic, tough one.
As you have experienced first hand...
Go to the bank you deal with now and tell the loan officer you want to be pre-qualified based on current loan standards, points, fees, etc...
before looking at houses.
You won't have to buy now and doing it ONCE won't adversely affect your FICO score.
Thanks! That's a good idea, I never thought of doing that this far in advance. I'm hoping to have just one outstanding student loan by the time I buy and have everything else paid off. That affects saving, though, so I'm trying to find a good balance.
The best one is in your head. Do a detailed budget the factors in every single expense and include contributions to savings/retirement plans. What you have left is what you can afford. Now you know what you can really afford. Now go to a bank/mortgage broker and they can tell you what they are willing to loan you.
I do these all the time and get results all over the universe. Some tell me I can afford ridiculously expensive homes (which I don't want) and others tell me I can barely afford to survive (I don't think that's true ?).
I'm looking for a realistic, tough one. I think the Smart Money one might be it - I just did it and can afford to live in my current state, but not NJ if it's accurate (after the taxes, I'd need a home price that probably doesn't exist there).
Anyway, I wanted to get some opinions as to other good ones. I'm hoping that I won't need to move out of my rental house until the end of next April and am saving and paying down debt like mad until then. (I say I'm hoping I won't have to because there is an ongoing mold issue and if it doesn't get taken care of I really am just going to have to move).
Thanks!
Did you want a monthly payment/mortgage calculator or something that can try and predict what you can afford. The problem with an affordability calculator is that it's highly variable based on a person's situation. You can base one on historical norms, or lending standards, but that might overpredict what somebody who is risk averse is comfortable with.
I gotta tell you, manderly is absolutely right, only YOU know your own true money habits...and when you're done with that, if you want to break your own heart, go on Bankrate and try their amortization calculator, look through the years and how much you're actually paying in interest and principle. It's all kinds of grown-up fun. Of course, this really is the best time in HISTORY to buy a home, you could be getting 13% like back in the day. I'm just saying that seeing that like nothing goes to pay off your actual home loan for the first 5 years really makes you want to spend as little as possible.
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