How much house can I afford?
1. In the form on the next page type your name, date, period, and the job title of the career you are most interested in pursuing, and the median salary from the last activity. 2. Go to www.realtor.com; scroll down to Home Buying Tools, Real Estate 101, and click on “buyers.” 3. Scroll down to Home Affordability. Enter the median salary you recorded into the Gross Income box; leave “frequency” set to yearly, monthly debt at $300, down payment to $20,000 and the interest rate at the current default. Then click Go. Record the maximum house price in the space on the form. This is the most you should consider spending on housing. 4. Click on the tab at the top of that web page labeled “Homes by Realtor.com” In the next window specify a location—for now use Kenosha as the location. Enter minimum price just below your target price, and a maximum prices and just above your target. Click Go. Select the radio button for “Display listings with Virtual Tours first?” labeled “yes.” Then click “Show Properties” 5. View several properties that look good to you. Some of them may be condominiums or townhomes, some may be multi-family units. For at least four properties, record the address, price, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and the living area in square feet (use the back of this paper). Try to categorize each property by style as well. 6. Calculate the average living area of the properties you have recorded. This will be the size of the “ideal house” that you will design for yourself. 7. Make sure to put your name and period on the top of the page. 8. Print only page two of this document!
Name Job Title
Date Salary
Period Maximum House Price
1 2 3 4 5 6
Address ______________________________________________________ Price $____________ Bedrooms ________ Bathrooms _______ Square feet ________________ Style (if listed in the description) ___________________________
Address ______________________________________________________ Price $____________ Bedrooms ________ Bathrooms _______ Square feet ________________ Style (if listed in the description ___________________________
Address ______________________________________________________ Price $____________ Bedrooms ________ Bathrooms _______ Square feet ________________ Style (if listed in the description ___________________________
Address ______________________________________________________ Price $____________ Bedrooms ________ Bathrooms _______ Square feet ________________ Style (if listed in the description ___________________________
Address ______________________________________________________ Price $____________ Bedrooms ________ Bathrooms _______ Square feet ________________ Style (if listed in the description ___________________________
Address ______________________________________________________ Price $____________ Bedrooms ________ Bathrooms _______ Square feet ________________ Style (if listed in the description ___________________________
Add the square footage of all houses listed above Divide by the number of properties recorded Average area you can afford in square feet