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Beyond the Sale! A real estate agent that renovates and remodels.

970 443 9188
  • Home
  • Listing Search
  • Resources
    • Seller Resources >
      • This Month in Real Estate
      • Eight Steps to Selling Your Home
      • How Can a Real Estate Agent Help?
      • Price to Sell and Make a Profit
      • Practicing Good Seller's Etiquette
      • Understanding the Buyer
      • Increasing your home’s appeal
    • Buyer Resources >
      • This Month in Real Estate
      • Eight steps to buying your home
      • Deciding how much house you can afford
      • Creating Your Home Wishlist
      • Location, Location, Location
      • Opting for new home construction
      • How can a real estate agent help me?
      • Eight important questions to ask your agent
    • Renovation & Redesign
    • Investment Services
    • Trusted Service Providers
    • Mortgage Calculator
    • Free Reports
  • Solar
  • Media
  • About
    • Meet Janelle
    • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Newsletter

Deciding how much house you can afford

Your lender decides what you can borrow but you decide what you can afford.

Lenders are careful, but they make qualification decisions based on averages and formulas. They won’t understand the nuances of your lifestyle and spending patterns quite as well as you do. So, leave a little room for the unexpected – for all the new opportunities your home will give you to spend money from furnishings, to landscaping, to repairs.

Historically, banks use a ratio called 28/36 to decide how much borrowers could borrow. An approved housing payment couldn’t be more than 28 percent of the buyer’s gross monthly income, and his or her total debt load, including car payments, student loans, and credit card payments, couldn’t be more than 36 percent. Different loan products may have different ratios. As home prices have risen, some lenders have responded by stretching these ratios to as high as 50 percent. No matter how expensive your market though, we urge you to think carefully before stretching your budget quite so much.

Deciding how much you can afford should involve some careful attention to how your financial profile will change in the upcoming years. In the long run, your own peace of mind and security will matter most.
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If you haven’t contacted a lender yet, contact me for a list of lenders I have worked with and trust.  I require my buyers to get at least pre-qualified before we begin the new home search.  Starting your search by contacting a lender helps you figure out how much house you can afford and also gets the lending process started so there aren’t surprises down the road.
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Contact me about buying your dream home
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Keller Williams Realty, Inc. is a real estate franchise company. Each Keller Williams office is independently owned and operated. Keller Williams Realty, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer and supports the Fair Housing Act.
Janelle McGill
Email Me | 970 443 9188
​

Keller Williams Realty
Northern Colorado

3720 S College Ave
Fort Collins, CO 80525
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  • Home
  • Listing Search
  • Resources
    • Seller Resources >
      • This Month in Real Estate
      • Eight Steps to Selling Your Home
      • How Can a Real Estate Agent Help?
      • Price to Sell and Make a Profit
      • Practicing Good Seller's Etiquette
      • Understanding the Buyer
      • Increasing your home’s appeal
    • Buyer Resources >
      • This Month in Real Estate
      • Eight steps to buying your home
      • Deciding how much house you can afford
      • Creating Your Home Wishlist
      • Location, Location, Location
      • Opting for new home construction
      • How can a real estate agent help me?
      • Eight important questions to ask your agent
    • Renovation & Redesign
    • Investment Services
    • Trusted Service Providers
    • Mortgage Calculator
    • Free Reports
  • Solar
  • Media
  • About
    • Meet Janelle
    • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Newsletter