how much can we get approved for? TEXAS

[Anonymous]

My wife and I are planning on buying a home within the next year or so. I've used some of the calculators online to determine what we can get approved for and how large a down payment would be required, but I'm curious how accurate those really are. Here are some particulars:

My FICO: 775

My Wife's FICO: 790

yearly income:

combined gross income: ~$145,000

debts:

her student loan: $60/month payment, ~$15,000 pricinipal balance

A lot of the calculators ask for montly credit card "debt" payment, this is slightly confusing to me. We never carry a balance on our one credit card (amex), we use it for everything and pay it off each month (to accumulate points). That being said, would they take an average of the monthly credit card bill and consider that "monthly debt" ? In other words, should we stop using our amex credit card (and use debit card instead) for all our expenses? Or, do they calculate monthly credit card "debt" as a function of your oustanding carried over balance?

Thanks for any advice in advance!

[mauve]

I'd put "$0" in that field. 

They may want to use what the monthly payment would be on the reported balance.  If so, you can fix that by paying the cc's down/off before the statement cuts.

[Anonymous]

You would probably qulify for a payment of $3,000 to $4,000 per month on that income with no debts. What that works out to in a loan amount would depend upon what type of loan you are looking for, and also the area in which you are looking as taxes and insurance would go into the qualification.

The bigger question though, is what are you comfortable paying each month? Chances are, you would qualify for a rather large payment, but would you feel comfortable with it? Would it allow you to save and invest in your future as you may have planned?

With those scores and low debt ratio, you would also have a number of loan choices to consider, with a wide range of rates and terms (down payment, etc).

[Anonymous]

Property taxes in our area will run roughly 2% per year of the appraised value (includes all exemptions). Hazard insurance will run roughly $550 per 100K.

The price range we'd like to be in (and in which the total housing payment (principal, taxes, insurance) falls within our comfort zone of about $3,300-$3,500 per month) is $400,000 to $450,000. The homes in this price range in the area in which we are looking are going to require some renovation, so we'd like to keep the down payment low(er) if possible to have some cash available for some remodeling. Is it realistic to think that you can purchase a $450,000 home with $30,000 to $35,000 down, essentially a $415,000 to $420,000 loan?

Also, we are first-time homebuyers.

[Anonymous]

What county?

[Anonymous]

Harris County, Houston, Texas

[Anonymous]

FHA is out, as the max loan limit for Harris Countyis $217,050. You could very likely qualify for a 5% down conventional loan. You should be in good shape!

[DallasLoanGuy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Property taxes in our area will run roughly 2% per year of the appraised value (includes all exemptions).

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that is the low end of the range

i see them up to 2.5% and more. makes a difference

[DallasLoanGuy]

serboliver

what price range are you looking?

how much do you want to put down?

[Anonymous]

1) A net tax rate of 2% (which considers all exemptions) is a real number. In the area we are looking, the tax rate results to around 2.4% before exemptions (homestead). Thus, my assumption of 2% is correct.

2) The price ranges we are looking in are $385K - $450K

3) If we had to, we could comfortably put down up to $70K. I would, however, like to put down closer to $25K-30K to have some cash leftover for renovations.