Objective Real Estate Affordability

When buying your first home, it is important to be objective. Unless your professional life is going really well, you probably are not going to be able to afford the Taj Mahal the first time out. The goal is to buy a home to get you into the market. It is probably going to be a starter, which is fine. So long as you are in the market and growing equity, you should be fine. Part and parcel to this advice is viewing your loan options objective. The question is not how much will the lender approve you for. The real question is how much can you afford. It is important to recognize the answer to both of these questions is almost always different. Go with what you can afford!