Pre-Approval Amount?

[Anonymous]

I hear the word on the street is that usually a maximum mortgage would be 3.5x your current salary.  So if I made $57,000, my maximum mortgage amount would be $199,500. 

My current credit scores are listed below (712 and 726 respectively).  I have no credit card debt with a total revolving limit just shy of $10,000.  I let a small balance report on one of my credit cards though.  The only reported balances are my student loans (roughly $6,500 @ $95 / month) and my car (balance of $17,300 @ $451 / month).    My total gross income / month would be $4,750. 

So currently I'm at 11.5% utilization per month.  Would anyone here be able to gauge if I would qualify for a standard / FHA loan and if my estimated $199,500 pre-approval would be close to accurate? 

I appreciate your help!

[Anonymous]

That sounds about right.  You have in the neighborhood of 31% for your housing and 43% for all of your debts.  With the car loan and student loan you basically have around $1500 monthly for the mortgage.  On that amount at 5.5%, the principle and interest is $1132, which leaves around $360 for property taxes, mortgage insurance, and homeowners insurance.  You may have extra leeway if you have compensating factors like large reserves.