How much home could I afford?

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to get an idea of how much home I will be able to afford 12-16 months from now. I know things are changing drastically at the moment and no one can give me a solid answer as to how much $ I will be loaned a year from now, but I want to start casually looking at homes in my price range so that when I am ready to apply for a loan and start seriously looking for a place I will be able to view a house or condo and have a good idea of what kind of deal it is. If there are any loan officers, mortgage brokers, or underwriters out there who can give me an idea of what price range I should be looking at, I would greatly appreciate the assistance.

Here's my situation:

I currently have an extremely thin credit history, which consists of one 5 year old student loan that started at 16K and now stands at 14,500 (no late payments). My FICO scores early last week were 700+. That was right before I opened my first cc with a limit of $300 (Chase Freedom). In the next week or two I plan to get a secured card with a limit of 5K to 10K, probably through a Credit Union. I will be using both the credit cards regularly and immediately paying balances off in order to build payment history. I make 45K a year, and have stable employment (5+ years with the same company). The only monthly bill I have outside of utilities and rent is the student loan at $165/month. I currently pay $1200/month for rent and will need to keep my house payments at or below that amount. I plan to remain in the home for about 5 years. I will have about 15K for a downpayment. I live in Long Beach, California and want to stay in my city. The property tax rate in Long Beach is 1.25%

If more information is required, please let me know.

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

$175k sales price, $15k down payment, 1.25% tax rate, $900/year homeowners insurance, 5.25% interest rate would yield a monthly payment right about $1,218/mo.  Assuming no other debt and just the student loan payment, your housing ratio would be about 32.5%, which is fine, and your total debt to income ratio would be 36.8%, which is more than fine.  Sounds like you'll be right on target to qualify in 12-16 months from now like you are planning.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Shane, you rock! Now I just have to find a home in SoCal for that price. Wish me luck!

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

Welcome, good luck as there are quite a few, just depends on if you like the area or not.