How much house can I afford?

I make approximately $55,000 annually, my credit card debt is about $300/month because I pay more than the minimum, and I'm financing my vehicle with about three years left on the loan. Would I be able to afford a house that is selling for $360,000?

Experts recommend that your rent/mortgage consume no more than 25-30% of your income, if you have other debts.

Go to your local financial institution of choice, or their website, and fill out the mortgage pre-approval paperwork. That will tell you if, and what, you can afford.

If you have 20% ($72,000) to put down, plus have the money to pay closing costs, probably several thousand more, you might be able to get a loan for it. Even then you'd be paying well over $2000 a month just for the house payment, which could be looking for trouble.

I'd suggest looking for something cheaper. Although depending on where you live, I realize that there might not be much of anything available that's cheaper.

well think of it this way, a home at $200,000 with you putting no money down not including the taxes will coast you around $2,000 a month. That is $24,000 a year. That is about half of your income, I think that going above that would hurt you.

With 20% down yes. With 0 down no. The general rule is triple your income. Your mortgage and tax (depending where you live) will be 2500 or more depending on taxes

you didnt say how much your vehicle payments are. Ok...so a 0 down 360k loan assuming buyer pays your closing costs will run you 2150 for P&I. (at 6% 30 years) Then there is M.I. since you are 100% financing and that will run you about 300 per month. Then you have taxes which if you are somewhere like CA will cost you 375 per month (1.25%) So right now we are up to 2825. Add another 100 for insurance and we are up to 2925. Are there HOA fees too?

So now take this amount 2925 and subtract whatever you are paying for rent. (lets say you are paying 1400 per month for this example cause i have no idea where you live) Do you consistantly have 1525$ per month left over every month? If not, I would stay away from a 360k house. If i was you, i would look for places around 200k or less.

Your gross income per month is $4,583 a month. With a housing ratio of 25% (which means that 25% of your gross pay goes to your total mortgage payment) you could afford a $1,145 a month total payment. Figuring $250 for taxes and insurance, you could afford a $150,000 mortgage. Add to this figure your down payment and you have the total house price that you can afford.

Yes, you can actually afford more and there are many lenders out there that will "give" you the money. However, you say that you are not paying off your credit card bills in full each month, which tells me that you don't have enough money.

Do not buy more home that you can afford.