Whether you are looking for Timonium Real Estate or Towson Real Estate, you will need to know how much of a house or condo you can afford.

How do you do this? A lender is your best friend!

This is why I have asked John Marsiglia , President of Red Oak Funding , to partner with me to create the most comprehensive team of professionals to serve your needs. John has been a mortgage consultant for 13 years, and to better serve his customers, opened Red Oak Funding. By owning and running his own company, he could provide the best service to his clients, and make sure all their needs are met.

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Deciding how much house you can afford

Your lender decides what you can borrow but you decide what you can afford.

Lenders are careful, but they make qualification decisions based on averages and formulas. They won’t understand the nuances of your lifestyle and spending patterns quite as well as you do. So, leave a little room for the unexpected – for all the new opportunities your home will give you to spend money, from furnishings, to landscaping, to repairs.

Historically, banks use a ratio called 28/36 to decide how much borrowers could borrow. An approved housing payment couldn’t be more than 28 percent of the buyer’s gross monthly income, and his or her total debt load, including car payments, student loans, and credit card payments, couldn’t be more than 26 percent. (In Canada lenders apply similar formulas to determine how much a buyer can afford. The Gross Debt Service ratio, or GDS, is not to exceed 32 percent of the buyer’s gross monthly income, and the Total Debt Service ration, or TDS, is not to exceed 40 percent of the buyer’s total debt load.) As home prices have risen, some lenders have responded by stretching these rations to as high as 50 percent. No matter how expensive your market though, we urge you to think carefully before stretching your budget quite so much.

Deciding how much you can afford should involve some careful attention to how your financial profile will change in the upcoming years. In the long run, your own peace of mind and security will matter most.

Information courtesy of kw.com