How much can I afford to spend on a house?
You might learn that you can afford more home than you thought. Or you might not have any idea at all about what you can afford. Use this very easy worksheet and you’ll be steps ahead in understanding how much a lender can lend to YOU. We’ve given you an example to use as a guide as you complete this worksheet with your own information. If you have any questions or need help, please call me. My name and contact information are at the bottom of this page.
Step by Step Worksheet
1. Gross Annual Income Enter your gross annual income (all the money you [and your coborrower if you’re going to have one] earn in a calendar year) 2. Gross Monthly Income Enter your gross monthly income (divide line 1 by 12) 3. Monthly Allowable Housing Expense and Long Term Debt Calculate your monthly allowable housing expense and long term debt (multiply line 2 by .41 [41%]. This portion of gross monthly income is usually allocated for principal, interest, taxes, hazard/flood insurance and other monthly long term debt. 4. Monthly expenses A. Estimate your monthly expenses for items such as car loans, child support, credit card, and other installment loan debt. B. Subtract your monthly long-term obligations ($300 in the example) from the amount on line 3. This is your Monthly Allowable Housing Expense. 5. Principal and Interest Monthly Payment Multiply the amount on line 4B by .80 (80%). This is the amount of the Monthly Allowable Housing Expense usually allocated to the principal and interest payment only, excluding taxes and insurance. 6. How much Mortgage will this payment buy? Using the interest Rate Table below, select an interest rate and multiply your Principal and Interest payment on line 5 by the number below it. Interest Rate Table 6.50% 7.00% 158.211 150.307
Example
$30,000
You
$________
$2,500 $1,025
$________ $________
$300 $725 $580
$________ $________ $________
$96.740 (at 6%)
$________
5.5% 176.122
6.00% 166.792
7.50% 143.017
8.00% 136.283
7. Planned down payment How much money do you plan to put down? Amounts usually range from 2.25% to 20% of the purchase price of the home. 8. Purchase Price Add the amount of your planned down payment (line 7) to line 6. This is the price you can pay to purchase your new home.
$2,200 (at 2.27%) $98,940 (will be rounded to $98,950)
$________ $________*
*This is only an estimate for a 30 year loan based on the dollar figures inserted above. The actual amount may vary depending on the actual circumstances of each borrower.
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