I'm pretty fed up with renting apartments. Tired of living next to noisy/nosy neighbors, tired of waiting nearly a week to get my heat fixed when it's 15 outside at night, not having a nice yard, a workshop/shed etc etc.
I make 50k/yr pre-tax, 3k/mo after taxes. This doesn't include any bonuses. My entire expenditures excluding rent (utilities, health insurance, car, food, entertainment - literally everything else) come out to 1200/mo, which I put everything on a credit/rewards card and pay the full balance every month. That leaves me 1800/mo free which I would rather use some towards a house that is mine and builds equity than an apartment which gives me nothing. My credit score is above 775. I have no debt whatsoever.
On a side note, my girlfriend makes 1700/mo after taxes, her expenses including rent are basically 1700. She would most likely be living with me eventually but she's not going to be anywhere on any official documents regarding the mortgage... but she would be privately contributing somewhat to rent and utilities. I say this because it's additional money that I can "use" for the mortgage, yet it won't be considered for understandable reasons.
My issue is that without scheduling a meeting with a banker, I can't get any reasonable understanding of how much house I can afford. When I enter my information onto online calculators, most spit out that I would only be qualified for some ridiculous amount like an 80k mortgage, if it even gives me a result at all. The best result I've seen is a little less than 140k.
I'm looking on Zillow just for fun right now and see that the houses I would like in my area range from 190-225k. Assuming I don't lose my job, I have plenty of money according to their calculator to afford even a 15-yr mortgage with plenty left over. What am I doing wrong with the calculators and/or how I'm viewing the process?
Submitted January 22, 2017 at 04:11AM by RVA14 http://ift.tt/2keCT38
