Mortgage and Refinancing Information Channel:

We would like to thank the local libraries, schools, and universities for recommending students to visit us when doing research on any of our information topics.
 Please check back frequently as new topics are added and current topics are updated daily.

Home Buying - What Can You Afford?

Okay, you've decided to buy a home and are trying to figure out what you can afford. Before you go home buying, you need to carefully consider what you can afford as far as a mortgage payment.

Mortgage Payments

The first step you should take in determining what you can afford is to talk to a mortgage lender. In fact, the best step you can take is to go through the loan process to the extent required to get a pre-qualification letter. A pre-qualification letter tells you and a seller how big of a home loan the lender will give you.

So, once you have the loan in hand, that must be the amount you can afford? The answer is maybe or maybe not. The prequalification letter is based on a number of factors such as your earnings and credit. It is not based on a picture of your life, which can lead to problems.

Other Expenses

There is nothing worse than buying a home and straining to make the monthly mortgage payments. This situation occurs when a homebuyer relies solely on the pre-qualification letter or their own wishful thinking. You may have purchased your dream home, but don't let the payments be a nightmare.

In determining how much you can afford to expend on a home purchase, you must consider your overall financial situation. Although you may be in a decent financial situation at the moment, do you have future expenses that will put pressure on your finances? Such situations might include:

1. Planning to have kids in the next year or so?

2. Are your current children going to college soon?

3. If you own a business, is the financial outlook stable?

4. If you work for a company, are you reasonably sure the company is headed in the right direction?

5. Do you have any concerns regarding the dreaded downsizing?

6. If you are the sole bread winner, what would happen if you were unable to work for a few months because of health issues?

These general questions are intended to wake you up to the possibility of over extending yourself on a mortgage. Every situation is different, so make sure you take a careful look at your life to make sure you are committing to a loan you can afford now and in the future.

Raynor James is with http://www.fsboamerica.org - providing homes for sale by owner, "FSBO", properties. Are you thinking, "Should I sell my home?" Visit http://www.fsboamerica.org/seller.cfm to sell your home sale for free for one month.

MORE RESOURCES

used office furnishings-supplies-equipment-desks-cubicles-service-counters for sale in Akron Ohio   Die cast model cars for sale in Akron Ohio  
used cars for sale in Akron Ohio   unfurnished homes for rent in Akron Ohio

RELATED MORTGAGE AND REFINANCING ARTICLES: Borrow on a Budget: Getting the Cheapest Home Improvement Loans Getting the cheapest home improvement loans isn't always easy. It can require going to several different lenders for quotes as well as several hours spent comparing the interest rates and terms of several possibilities. Ten Things a Mortgage Processor Must Know to be Effective From time to time, we hear a story about a processor gone bad. A processor that seemed so knowledgeable early on but now isn't keeping pace and can't seem to get along with anyone. Build Your Own Dream House! So you're thinking about building your own house, are you? Well, you've come to the right place! It's a lot of fun (hard work and eventually fun!) to build your own home and it will save you thousands of dollars. we saved over a Hundred Grand by doing it ourselves - that's pretty significant cash!). If you happen to live in a Large City, like Los Angeles, or anywhere that Real Estate Values are 'close-to-insane', you could potentially save millions of dollars. Subprime Mortgage Loans Online - What To Expect Applying for a subprime mortgage loan online can seem intimidating at first. With so many lenders to choose from, it can appear difficult to find the best mortgage loan. Mortgage Soup Looking for home mortgage loans can get confusing with the alphabet soup of mortgage loans programs available today. Most of these programs are just variations of fixed rate and adjustable rate mortgage loans. Florida Refinance - Refinancing in Florida The decision to buy a home in Florida can be one of the best you will ever make. If you own a home in Florida you may be considering refinancing. Option ARM Mortgage Loan - Is This Really for You? What happened to the days of a 15 or 30 year fixed rate mortgage loan? Ultimately this is the safest and most popular mortgage loan product in our industry, but new mortgage products are hitting the market, and we in the mortgage business are using them to our advantage; ever heard the radio advertisement saying, "buy a $200K home for $643.28 per month; call XYZ Mortgage Company to apply"? The product used in this ad is called an Option ARM, and I feel it's my duty as a mortgage professional to tell you what this product is in case you happen to meet up with that loan officer whose only concern is to make a fee, and not have your best interest in mind. Refinance Mortgage Rate and Mortgage Rates Refinance mortgage rate is the best rate available to qualified homeowners for refinancing their current home mortgage. Refinance mortgage rates vary from product to product and customer to customer. Basic Tips for First Time Home Buyers The first time you purchase a home is an exciting experience. You are anxious to call the place yours and maybe a little worried about how the whole thing will play out. A Home Equity Loan - What You Should Know? Asking yourself, "Is a home equity loan right for me?" is the first and most important step to take. Home equity loans have become so popular today because of increasing home values. A Home Equity Loan - Is It For You? Home equity loans are often touted as being the solution to so many things - giving you access to money for home repairs or improvements, a way to consolidate debt, finance a sudden family emergency, or even as a way to start an investment portfolio. There's a lot to think about, though, before you go and sign up for the first home equity loan you see. Seller Financing Although any loan used for buying real estate is strictly called a purchase money mortgage, the term is often employed for seller financing, those transactions in which you "take back" a mortgage as part of the purchase price. These arrangements are suitable, of course, only when you do not need your proceeds immediately toward the purchase of another home. A Home Loan Can Help You Own Your Dream Home Owning your dream home need not just be a dream. You can own it with a home loan offered by any number of financial institutions to help meet the shortfall between the purchase price of the home and the down payment that you provide. Stop Foreclosure - 7 Tips to Save Your Home Faced with the threat of a foreclosure on their home, with all the weight of the mortgage industry and its army of attorneys against them, the average homeowner might feel like David facing Goliath. But David defeated Goliath !David had a sling and some pebbles. Commercially Viable Commercial Mortgages Commercial mortgages are similar to residential mortgages. Usually taken by businesses, commercial mortgages are secured against business property. Home Equity Loans - How To Use Your Homes Equity to Consolidate Debt If you've got a wallet full of credit cards, and monthly payments on them that total more than 25% of your monthly income, chances are that you've considered debt consolidation loans or some other means of taming your credit card debt. But did you know that a home equity loan is another way to get the money that you need to pay off your creditors, reduce your monthly payments, and get out from under the weight of all those monthly payments? A home equity loan is essentially a second mortgage taken out with your house as the collateral. Refinancing Your Mortgage Can Really Save You Money Refinancing a mortgage is simply taking out a new mortgage. It means paying off one or more old debts by getting a new loan. Homebuyers Loan Guide If you are a homebuyer, there are a few points on a homebuyer's loan that you should keep in mind. These pointers simply ensure that you don't burden yourself with a loan or repayment and that you can get a justified return on your investment. Good FICO Credit Score? Tips to Getting the Most Out of Your Home Mortgage Loan With Good Credit Sometimes so much is talked about how to solve the problem of having bad credit, but what about when you have an excellent credit rating? Good credit is considered to be a credit score of 650 or higher. How can you get the best interest rate and loan terms to make your good credit history work for you? Even with excellent credit, you have to be careful not to get talked into a loan that may not be the best one you could qualify for. Mortgage After Bankruptcy Most people probably assume that obtaining a mortgage to purchase a home, refinance or to consolidate debt after a bankruptcy is out of the question. In fact, many people are able to obtain these mortgage services, even 1 day after a bankruptcy discharge in some cases.

HOME | SITE MAP © 2012 - 2024 All Rights Reserved Increase pagerank with HitsSurfer