As a homebuyer, there’s often pressure out how much budget to work with to purchase your ideal property. Figuring out how much to spend on a home isn’t just a matter of numbers--it also depends on your lifestyle and long-term goals.
Purchasing a home is dependent on numerous factors, including your income, credit score, and the type of lifestyle you’d like to maintain.
One of the best ways to determine how much house you can afford to buy is to figure out what percentage of your monthly income will be going towards your mortgage.
For most homeowners, a mortgage payment taking up no more than 25% of their income is ideal, as it provides wiggle room for other financial investments and responsibilities. So, if you earn $6,000 per month, you may not want your monthly mortgage payment to exceed $1,500.
Before finalizing a home purchase, it’s best to consider future maintenance your property may need. This may include updating the flooring in the kitchen or perhaps repairing an older roof, all of which can become expensive quickly.
Also consider monthly utility bills such as water, electricity, your internet bill and more when budgeting out for how much home you can afford.
The goal of a great budget is to know where each dollar of your income goes, and to have a plan for each cent that you make.
Within your budget, it’s essential to account for things such as home and medical emergencies, retirement, savings for vacations and so on.
If you take due diligence, not only will you have a better idea of where your money goes, but you’ll also be confident in knowing exactly how much you can spend on your next home purchase.
Shana Lundell has been a real estate professional since 2003 in Bourne, Cape Cod, Plymouth and the surrounding areas, where she’s lived since 2000. Shana is a luxury and waterfront specialist who has represented hundreds of buyers and sellers, including representing builders in over 100 new construction transactions in her career. She consistently achieves recognition awards for top production, including membership in the Coldwell Banker® International President’s Elite, an honor reserved for the Top 3% of agents globally. Shana ranks in the Top 100 of 4,000 Coldwell Banker agents in New England.
Shana works with a range of clients, including lifestyle properties, vacation residences, down-sizers, trade-up buyers, land, first-time home buyers, and new construction sales. She understands that moving happens for a myriad of reasons and has had the honor of helping all types of transactions. Many emotions can come into play during this time, but Shana is skilled at keeping calm and carrying on with care, professionalism, open communication, and the ability to keep things on target to achieve results. She guides her clients smoothly through the process, from dynamic marketing measures, negotiation and solution strategies, connecting pivotal professional resources, to coordinating the essential closing details.
Shana is proud to have over 100 five-star client testimonials that rave about her positive, professional, responsive, and authentic approach to real estate service. Love where you live. Live where you love. Looking to buy or sell? Call Shana Lundell!
