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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
house question...
ok... dh and i are looking to buy a house next year. How do we find out how much house we can afford? I found a pretty good mortgage calculator on realtysouth.com, but I don't know what interest rate we'll end up with. This may be a silly question, but how do I find out?
Re: house question...
now, i'm not sure if there is another way...
but earlier this yr dh and i were house hunting, and we called a few mortgage companies to get that info. they get some info from you (job, liabilities, etc), and can give you the loan amount that you qualify for. i'm not sure if they have to do a credit check in order to give you the loan quote though. but i do know that every time someone pulls your credit, it goes against you. so if they do need to pull it, there is a 2 week window in which it won't show up on your credit report, so i would suggest getting quotes from different companies in that 2 week window (if they do need to pull your credit report). hth!
i agree with pp's about the preapproval thing....
another thing you can do to help you determine how much house you can afford will be to basically build up a "fake" budget...and just start estimating the costs of things like electricity, water, etc....and then compare that to your current incomes to see how much money you guys would have leftover for a house payment (does that make any sense?).
i know that mr. ramsey suggests that your house payment be at or below 25% of your take home pay....and here is a link to some of his advice
http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/cms/how_much_house_6374.htmlc
and just so you know...i like his advice, but dh and i have a 30 year mortgage...however, we do make additional payments on it through the year...so we try and factor that in when we plot out our expenses monthly...
it is not easy stuff to prepare yourself for...that is for sure ....the thought of selling out home in a few years and buying another one already stresses me out! LOL
if you want...or are at all interested, i can give you the name of the girl that we worked with to get our loan....we were very pleased...
and we were also very pleased with our realtor too! she and i have actually become good friends! 
i think some companies have a chart that can tell you what interest rate you will qualify for with your known credit scores. when we looked into applying with the credit union, they had a chart like this online. you might check. you might also be able to tell what the interest rates are now. i know they fluctuated quite a bit this past yr with the whole mortgage crisis thing.
FYI - you are going to be preapproved for MUCH more than you can afford, so know what you can afford first and then look for what you want in a house budget/price after you have received the preapproval (hope that made sense).
- also, with the housing industry/market the way it is now, I would HIGHLY suggest locking in when your broker sees the rate low - its definitely a guessing game but when it approaches a reasonable rate, lock in. I wouldn't rec'd a balloon, interest only, etc as those are the type loans that have gotten people in trouble lately.
- take your time. Know what you want, how much you can afford, what you're willing to give up (is a basement more important over commute, vice versa, or is a big yard, etc. Meaning you may have to have more of a commute in order to get what you want or something of the like), be open minded.
- I'm on the 4th home I've owned and while some of the process is fun, a lot of it is VERY stressful.
- oh definitely SHOP AROUND on mortgage brokers. Just b/c "a" realtor uses this broker doesn't mean you have to go w/them, you can use any broker you want. Meaning any mortgage company that you get your mortgage with.
- just do your research and become educated on this. Especially in today's housing market/industry.
I wish you the best and good luck!!!
Hey, stranger! It's been a while! Thanks for the advice, when I get to work tomorrow I'm going to print off this thread for future reference.
Lauren, I would LOVE that info. What is her territory?
no problem, just remember to shop around for everything - the house, the broker, the realtor (you should even interview them - they are working on YOUR behalf!!!!), etc. to get the best value for your money. Right now its a buyers market everywhere so take your time to do what's in your best interest (no pun intended).
HTH.
Just wanted to say I agree with Katie on everything!
Ditto on finding a good realtor. Many realtors think very highly of themselves and think they're doing you a favor by talking to you. Find one you are comfortable with! Good luck