How Much Mortgage Can You Really Afford When Buying Fairfax County VA Homes for Sale?
Are you thinking of buying one of the Fairfax County VA homes for sale? Owning a home can be a sign of independence and success. It allows you to build up equity and the mortgage interest and property taxes are tax-deductible. Can you afford it, though?
Reputable lenders look at a list of criteria to decide how much they’ll loan you. This list includes:
- Credit score
- Existing assets including cash
- Car leases or loans
- Credit card balances
- Debt consolidation loans
- Home equity loans
- Installment loans
- Student loans
- Other monthly debts
- Size/source of your down payment
If you’d like to get an idea of what you can afford before talking to a lender, here are a few tools you can use to decide whether buying one of the Fairfax County VA homes for sale is within your budget:
1) As a rule of thumb, your house hunting budget shouldn’t be more than 2.5 times your pre-tax annual income. If you earn $50,000 a year, your budget for house hunting should be around $125,000.
2) Your Housing Expense Ratio, which is principal, interest, taxes and insurance (PITI) shouldn’t be more than 25% to 28% of your pre-tax monthly income.
3) You’re Debt-to-Income Ratio should be no more than 36% of your pre-tax monthly income. This is the ratio between how much you owe and how much you earn.
4) Use an online calculator to figure how much home you can afford.
“Qualifying for” and “can afford” are two different things. Shopping for Fairfax County VA homes for sale that are within your budget will save you a lot of heartache now and in the future.
If you’d like help determining how much mortgage you can really afford, I can help. Call me at 703-909-3939 or email me at Steve@HomeSearchWebsite.com for more information.
Steve Hawkins
Long and Foster REALTORS®
Springfield, Virginia
www.HomeSearchWebsite.com
Steve@HomeSearchWebsite.com
703-909-3939
