How Much House Can You Afford? | Ukiah Real Estate

When interested in buying a house setting a budget is one of the first things I suggest my clients do. So if you want to know how much you can afford when buying a house, this is the perfect video for you so stay tuned because we're gonna get started right now!

Hello, my name is Kasie Gray, I'm your homegirl, broker associate here in Ukiah California, and not a mortgage expert because I'm not a mortgage lender. So I'm just going to give you a quick overview of how you can find out how much you can afford in my handy dandy buyer's guide. You can fill out my guide to saving up for a home, it is in the link down below. You just sign up and you'll get sent the buyer's guide for free and you can fill out that information on your own time.

Something many houses suggest is figuring out what your budget is. A lot of people, a lot of Americans, I don't know about other people, don't know how much they spend on a monthly, weekly, daily, basis. So it's good to take a look at you know your last six months of expenses. How much are you spending on your car payment, car insurance, your credit card payment, your student loans, your groceries, your entertainment, your food, your internet, tv, life insurance, pet supplies, drugs, and alcohol that's important? 

I mean with our culture, gym, daycare, gas, and barber subscriptions, you know, like that pup box and clothing and shoes. Very important category in my book. So you must know how much you're spending on a day-to-day basis and figure out if you know that's manageable. If you're going to get a mortgage because I never want to be the reason why someone can't go get their hair cut once a week like that I don't want someone to be like I'd love to get a haircut but I can't because I got to pay my mortgage and stupid Kasie made me buy this house. Which is not the case. But I don't want you to ever kind of think that.

That's how I think clearly. So that'd be an issue. I always suggest doing that if you don't have that information in order you can use an app there are tons out there you know clarity there's a ton that just goes through your bank statements and processes what categories are what and how much you're spending. So a very important first step and then, of course, we can talk to a lender and they will take your income your debt your credit score throw it in a plot mix it up, and give you a pre-approval number.

That is technically how much you can afford but oftentimes lenders will pre-approve you for a lot more than you can financially pay for without stretching yourself too. Then, you must be spending a proper amount on your mortgage compared to your income.

The rule of thumb is that you can spend two and a half times the amount of your annual income on a house. So if your annual income is fifty thousand dollars then you can spend a hundred and twenty-five thousand but say you have a partner who makes money too or you make or she makes money too or whoever. If the dog makes money whoever and then you can add that in but I think that's a great rule of thumb you don't want to overspend what you're spending what you're making.

It's very important to make sure that you're not stretching yourself too thin. I always suggest talking to a mortgage lender there will be a link down below to my vendors' page and on that vendor's page, there is a section for mortgage lenders. All the ones that I suggest. Just let them know that you found them for me and they will get you pre-approved. They will help you get started with the process and then when you're ready and pre-approved then you can come to talk to me or you can talk to me first but once you're pre-approved then we can go start to look for houses and figure out what you're interested in what your needs are and buy you a house!