How Much Money Can I Borrow To Buy A Home?

Definition of "How much money can I borrow to buy a home?"

There’s really no easy and quick answer to “how much money can I borrow to buy a home?”

It will all depend on the overall financial health of the area in question, the financial health of the mortgage company in question and the risk that giving a loan to you will provide to that same company. However, the first two aspects mentioned will weigh less when you apply for a mortgage, after all; everybody wants some profit, right? So, if the overall market condition is good and the financial health of the company is great, they *might* get a portion of their earnings to re-invest to bring even more revenue but the bigger part of it will be converted into profit for its shareholders  not necessarily on making your life easier by loaning you more. That’s capitalism, buddy.

Alright, are you lecturing me or answering how much money can I borrow to buy a home, RealEstateAgent.com?

Ok. Let’s cut to the chase. You will get as much money as the calculations of the mortgage company say you will be able to pay it back in a timely manner. And to figure out how much that means in your case, we will need to figure out what is your risk to the company.

To do that, you'll need to figure out what your gross income is (before taxes) monthly and yearly. To get a quick ballpark figure, take the yearly income of yourself - and your co-purchaser if applicable - and multiply by 2 to 2 1/2. Most people will fall into this category. There are other things to consider, however – like monthly debt payments and home-related expenses like homeowner’s insurance policy cost and homeowner’s association fees, your expected loan term and interest rates. If you have a large down payment combined with little to no bills, the lender may believe that you could afford a more expensive home than the ballpark figure allows.

An important thing to do in order to prepare yourself to lure the mortgage companies into a large loan amount is taking care of your credit score, developing good habits towards it. Once you understand what is a credit score and how does it impact real estate, you will be able to secure, most of the times, not only better deals, but with less hassle.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Questions

Popular Real Estate Glossary Terms

Part of something such as the units making up a heating or air conditioning system in a building. ...

Payment made by the tenant to the landlord for the right to use property, such as an apartment or office. ...

See concrete block. ...

In short, an overage means a surplus or an excess of money. An overage can present itself at a property at an auction where the asset has gone over the asking price. Suppose there’s a ...

" A metal plate attached to the lower end of a door to prevent marring from people "kicking" the door in order to open it. A metal plate mounted on the open edge of a stairs platform." ...

Managing partner of a limited partnership who is in charge of its operations. A general partner has unlimited liability. Member of a partnership who is jointly and severally liable for ...

The abstraction method is a valuation procedure used to determine the land value relative to the total market value of the property. The abstraction approach is most often used when there ...

Performance of a complete inventory of real property within a jurisdiction. A cadastral program produces the cadastral map. ...

Depressed, poorly kept locality that may include vacant businesses. It may be a high crime area. The people living in the area are typically poor and there may also be homeless people. ...