How much can I afford????

We are starting to think about buying a house/condo. How do you figure out what you can afford? Are there any good websites? What other costs are associated with buying a house/condo? I'm totally new at this and have no clue! Any advice would be helpful!

Thanks!

Hi,

Combine your income with Nick's income. See how much money you both have coming in a month.

Decide how much you can afford on mortgage, utilities, food and also money to put away into savings. (very important to still have money left over to put in the savings account)

One great site to use for browsing houses is
MLSLI

Good Luck!

Hi. First, figure out how much $ you have to put down. Say you have $75000 to put down, and you are looking at $400000 homes. That's a monthly mortgage payment of $1948.54 for a 30 year fixed with a 6% rate. Taxes for a $400000 house are often $6000 or more, so figure on an extra $500 a month for taxes. So that is $2450 for just mortgage and taxes. Then figure gas, water, electric, food, cable, internet, phone, heat, and other expenses. See if you have enough to cover it.

This is a good site for mortgage calculator Good luck!

For the mortgage calculator, is that assuming you put 20% down? Or 10%? I don't see it saying anything about the downpayment.

How much do closing costs come out to? I'm also trying to figure this out.

Thanks for the info! I'm starting to think we'll never own a house and pay for a wedding

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Posted by violet

For the mortgage calculator, is that assuming you put 20% down? Or 10%? I don't see it saying anything about the downpayment.

How much do closing costs come out to? I'm also trying to figure this out.

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Our closing costs were $7000 for a 1 bedroom condo. Plus lawyer fees, which were $1000. I've heard closing costs for homes going anywhere from $8000-$20000. I think you can get the closing costs absorbed into the mortgage somehow? Not sure how. The mortgage calculator I posted doesn't care about $ down, just the mortgage amount--so, the cost of the house minus the money down. However, with less $ down, I think the percentage usually goes up. We put 20% down so I don't know too much about how putting less down works.

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Posted by laborday06

Thanks for the info! I'm starting to think we'll never own a house and pay for a wedding

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Unless you have a lot saved up, it is definitely hard! We started with a condo (bought 5 mos. before the wedding), which was still $$$$, but not as bad as a house.

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Posted by violet

I have really been hating NY lately. The prices are just ridiculous. How can anyone buy a house nowadays? I just hate it.

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I hear ya sister. I am so sick of looking at houses for $450k where every room needs to be totally gutted

Our closing costs are in the 20s -- new construction!

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Posted by ThongLori

Our closing costs are in the 20s -- new construction!

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OMG! What are your taxes like?

To answer the question:
You can also try Lendingtree.com. there is a free 60 or 90 day trial there. I found it very helpful. You can check your credit report to make sure there are no suprises on there and they also have very detailed mortgage calculators. If you want, mortgage brokers can even offer you mortgages through there.
Where are you looking?

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Posted by julz33

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Posted by ThongLori

Our closing costs are in the 20s -- new construction!

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OMG! What are your taxes like?

To answer the question:
You can also try Lendingtree.com. there is a free 60 or 90 day trial there. I found it very helpful. You can check your credit report to make sure there are no suprises on there and they also have very detailed mortgage calculators. If you want, mortgage brokers can even offer you mortgages through there.
Where are you looking?

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Julz-- Many new condos in Brooklyn have a tax abatement as incentive.... before the reduction, it is about 6K a year..... after the abatement kicks in (which lasts for 10 yrs) they will be $600 per year!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Posted by laborday06

is 20% down the average?

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I think so--it is the minimum down for many mortgages we saw. It is possible to do with less down, but I believe it makes the rate higher, or you have to pay PMI.

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Posted by Calla

You can also do less than 20% down without PMI if you get a second mortgage (usually a home equity line). We did a 15% down payment that way.

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We did this! We only put 5% down and payed our closing costs up front. We don't pay PMI.