Tmares

2008-08-04 10:31:00

Okay, um the calculator says i can afford a $3,695,000 home. I entered $100,000 for annual income. How much more inacurate can this stupid thing be? - - EDITOR'S COMMENT - - _ The calculations are fine. You made a simple mistake by entering $100,000 when you should have entered $8,333 as your income. (The calculator asks for "monthly" income, not "annual" income.) I can re-create your results if I put $100,000 in monthly income, $10,000 in closing costs, and $0 in monthly expenses. Maybe you don't have any credit cards, auto loans, bank loans, student loans or anything like that, but if you do, you need to enter all monthly financial obligations that you'll be making payments on, in order to achieve accurate results. You can leave out irregular expenses like groceries, gas, utilities and other standard living expenses, and you can leave out any expenses that will be going away as soon as you start your new mortgage (such as rent on an apartment). But other than those types of things, lenders will factor in all your ongoing financial obligations into your prequalification calculations, so remember to include those. Please try your calculations again. I'm sure you will find that it will work well for you!

G

2008-07-18 20:35:00

Hmmmmmm....I just did this for a kick because we received our actual prequalification letter today. This calculator pre-qualified us for $130,000 LESS than our actual prequalification and for a payment that is almost $200 below what we are currently paying for rent. Not very accurate. - - - - EDITOR'S COMMENT: Actually, the calculator is accurate, but there's no law that says a given lender has to stick to the industry standard when deciding how much to lend you. Your lender is allowing you to stretch yourself thinner than most other lenders would feel comfortable with. Perhaps you have savings or other assets that could be converted into cash if you get into trouble, and this has raised your lender's confidence in your ability to repay. Or perhaps you're about to finish up a degree that will increase your employability significantly. Something has convinced the lender to lend you $130,000 more than would normally be practical. As to your other observation, the reason the calculator produced a lower payment is, of course, if you were to borrow $130,000 less, your monthly payment would be considerably lower that what your lender quoted you. Let me end with a note of friendly, cautionary advice. Borrowing as much as you possibly can is not the only path forward. If you can be happy while living below your means (finding a way to enjoy life while keeping your living expenses lower than average for your income), you will be less likely to find yourself plagued by future financial worries, you'll be able to pay cash for items you would othewise find yourself financing (such as furniture, vacations and automobiles), you'll be able to save more for emergencies, and you'll be in a better position to plan for a more enjoyable retirement. Please forgive me if I am being forward in saying this. It's just something to consider - some solid advice from my father to me, and now to you.

Radek

2008-06-24 17:13:00

My wife and I would like to buy investment rental property. - - - EDITOR'S REPLY: We at Calculators4Mortgages wish you well with your investment goals. Exploring the purchase of rental property as a valuable element of your investment strategy is a good idea. While we would like to be of assistance, this site is currently geared toward people who are purchasing a home to serve as their primary residence. We would like to expand into real estate investment calculators at some point, but we have no immediate plans to do so.

becky

2008-06-23 13:35:00

cool

Amanda

2008-06-17 20:49:00

What do we qualify for? - - - - EDITOR'S REPLY: The Mortgage Industry has a process that lenders refer to as pre-qualification. There may be a little variation on the calculation from lender to lender, but they are all very similar. Prequalification is basically a sanity check to see if your income and your debt-to-income ratio is appropriate for the size of loan you seek. If this calculator says you prequalify for a given amount, you should be able to ask a lender to provide you with a pre-qualification letter stating that you are pre-qualified for that amount. This can be useful, as some sellers will only work with people who are pre-qualified. In this way, they can be sure that a lender has at least looked at your income and your debt, and they believe you have a reasonable chance of being approved for the loan if you apply for it. Instead of going into the mortgage banker or mortgage broker's office "blind," the calculator allows to to first get an idea how their calculation works, and what amount they are likely to pre-qualify you for. I hope you find this calculator to be helpful.

jimmy

2008-06-16 19:21:00

nice

Mac

2008-05-27 11:46:00

thank you...

toganges

2008-05-27 06:33:00

accurate.

Rodger C.

2008-05-25 20:36:00

Excellent! I just put on my site to help sell my home. Perfect addition!! rrvhome.com - - - - EDITOR'S COMMENTS: Hey, I just took a look at your site. That's a nice looking home! I'm sure you'll have no problem finding a buyer to offer the right price. Adding a pre-qualification calculator to your site was a good idea. It should help by allowing people who can't afford your home to realize that right away so that they don't waste their time (and yours). Happy selling!

nader

2008-04-17 11:08:00

cool

jericho

2008-04-09 07:23:00

thanks

jesse

2008-04-09 07:13:00

great

Lora

2008-04-02 14:41:00

I like this so very much!! Thank you!!

kimco933

2008-03-21 06:09:00

This a very helpful tool. I will use it often

KAREN

2008-03-07 10:51:00

Something is seriously wrong with this calculator. I entered an income of $1800 with down of $5000 on a 30yr at 6% with $500 expenses and got a qualification for a purchase price of $29K !!! - - - - EDITOR'S COMMENT: To prequalify for a loan, your total monthly expenses (housing expenses plus other monthly obligations) cannot exceed 36% of your total gross monthly income. With an income of $1,800, this means your monthly expenses including housing should be limited to $648 per month. You have existing obligations of $500 per month, which only leaves $148 for your housing expense. This expense includes your mortgage payment, your property taxes, your mortgage insurance and your hazard insurance. With all this factored in, the standard prequalification method does not produce the size of loan you are looking for. Make sure you're entering your gross (not your net) income. This is greater than the amount that you deposit in your account. It is your income before social security and taxes and benefits and such are taken out. Also, make sure the $500 doesn't include utilities, gas, groceries, or that sort of thing. It should only include obligations such as credit card payments, auto loans, student loans and that sort of thing. Please let us know if you have other questions.

reagan

2008-01-22 22:43:00

hurray, thank you ;)

brian

2008-01-21 15:26:00

cool dude!

Nathan

2008-01-18 06:47:00

Looks great...Thanks

Antonides

2007-11-11 07:08:00

THANK YOU...I NOW KNOW WHERE I NEED TO BE FINANCIALLY!!!

Derek

2007-11-08 13:13:00

Great Tool....

chel

2007-11-07 12:11:00

nice

Jesse

2007-09-22 03:38:00

What a Great Tool, its great to have something to check your payments and not have to sign your life away. THANKS

Lee

2007-09-21 14:41:00

Thanks

Jessica

2007-06-28 20:16:00

Thanks for such a useful tool! Im glad I could use it without the hassle of putting in my info!

Mirsad K.

2007-06-28 13:59:00

I LIKE !!!

William

2007-06-17 17:48:00

Thanks for the wide range of calculators

Deb

2007-06-12 19:59:00

Great site! Very helpful, added to favorites! The greatest, no forms to fill out!!

aplin

2007-06-09 09:03:00

see you in Raleigh! thank you!

Casey

2007-06-06 11:25:00

Very helpful thank you

Kristin

2007-05-20 12:42:00

Thanks

brian

2007-05-06 20:31:00

cool

MARTIN

2007-04-19 13:40:28

VERY HELPFUL TOOL

susett

2007-04-19 08:09:46

thank you for your help