Affordability
Definition of "Affordability"
The definition of affordability in real estate is simply a buyer’s capacity to afford a house. Affordability is usually expressed in terms of the maximum amount a buyer will be able to pay for a house, and subsequently be approved for a loan in order to pay this amount. In real estate, this is known as the maximum affordable sale price, and it can be empirically calculated with relative ease.
To calculate the maximum affordable sales price, you’ll need to take into account three different metrics by which the maximum affordable sales price is calculated. These are the income rule, the debt rule and the cash rule. After calculating each of these numbers, affordability will be the lowest of the three. Let’s take a closer look at each of these rules in turn, and see exactly how they come into play in calculating the maximum affordable sales price.
The Income Rule in Affordability
This rule states that a borrower's monthly housing expense (MHE), which is the sum of the mortgage payment, property taxes and homeowner insurance premium, cannot exceed a percentage of the borrower's income specified by the lender. Once you’ve calculated a buyer’s MHE, you have their maximum affordable sales price according to the income rule.
The Debt Rule in Affordability
The debt rule says that the borrower's total housing expense (THE), which is the sum of the MHE plus monthly payments on existing debt, cannot exceed a percentage of the borrower's income specified by the lender. Once calculated, this number is often lower than the number that you might arrive at using the income rule, making it essential for calculating the maximum affordable sales price.
The cash rule in Affordability
The required cash rule says that the borrower must have cash sufficient to meet the down payment requirement plus other settlement costs. When the cash rule sets the limit on the maximum sale price, the borrower is said to be cash constrained. This number can be raised by lowering the down payment.
Popular Mortgage Terms
USDA loans are a form of government-backed financing for both first-time home buyers and move up buyers looking for a second or third property. These loans have little to do with ...
A mortgage loan for 125% of property value. Since such loans are only partly secured, they have many of the characteristics of unsecured loans, including relatively high interest rates. ...
A lender commitment to make a mortgage loan to a specified borrower, prior to the identification of the property that will be mortgaged. On a pre-approval, unlike a pre-qualification, the ...
A credit report contains detailed information regarding the relationship history of an individual with several financial institutions. How do I get a Credit Report?You ask a credit bureau. ...
Total costs charged to the borrower that must be paid at closing, by the borrower, the home seller, or the lender. In dealing directly with a lender, settlement costs can be divided into ...
Also called variable or flexible rate mortgage, an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) is a mortgage where the interest rate is not constant, but changes over time by the mortgage lender. ...
The longest period for which the lender will lock the rate and points on any program. On most programs, the longest lock period is 90 days; some go to 120 days and a few to 180 days. It ...
To define a home equity line of credit, we can also take a look at how credit cards work. Similarly to credit cards, home equity lines of credit are sources of funds that can be accessed ...
A government-owned or -affiliated lender that makes home loans directly to consumers. With minor exceptions, government in the U.S. has never loaned directly to consumers, but housing banks ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.