Home Affordability - Know how much house you can really afford to buy

Buying a home is likely the largest purchase you'll ever make. It's important to determine how much of a house you can afford when you're starting the proces...

DAN: What can you afford? By afford that doesn't mean what the bank pre-approves you for but what you can afford is what you can afford for your lifestyle. RYAN: So think through not only what your current income is, what your future income may be, but also tempered with what your future expenses are going to be. How old is your car? Are you potentially going to replace that? If you're getting a 30 year mortgage you will end up replacing your car. Kids in the future, childcare expenses. And then roll all that up and see how comfortable you're going to be with that mortgage payment. RHONDA: You have to have money to pay the mortgage, but you need money saved up for things that are going to go wrong with the house. Because trust me, they're going to go wrong. It's never going to be convenient when they go wrong. BRENDA: There was an issue with plumbing. The sink got clogged and I had to get a plumber and that was another $300 there that was unexpected in the first week. Just little things like that that you want to plan for.