If I make 55K per year, can I buy a house in the 200K range?

Question

What do you think? Am I setting my sights too high?

Answer 1

That depends on your how much debt you have, ie, car, student, personal loans, credit card balances, etc. The more you owe to any of these, the less house you can get.

Typically, a lending institution will loan you up to 36% of your gross salary for a home. So if you make 55k, and have zero loans or little debt as described above, you would be able to buy up to a $237,000 home.

But you have to be careful as you if you borrow your maximum, you will be house rich and cash poor. All of your disposible income will be tied up in the house. You have to furnish it, keep up with necessary repairs (furnance, roof, etc), utilities, & pay taxes and insurance, invest in your 401k, IRA'S, health insurance premiums, and that's difficult with a $1650 a month mortgage, which is actually half of the the $3500 you bring home monthly.

You are better off looking for a home in the $150,000 range. It will allow you more financial freedom. And if you lose your job, you won't struggle as much to make the payments!

Other things to consider is the neighborhood you are buying in: Is the value of the home going to increase? Are you going to be safe? Does a significant other affect the decision? Will he/she in the future?

Answer 2

WIth 55K per year, a 200K house is definitely within your grasp. The higher the downpayment you can save the better, however, and your credit will play a big part. If your credit is not so good, you may need to aim lower. You also will need to carefully budget your expenses. If you have a lot of credit card bills, car payment, and other high expenses, you may want to wait until you get those paid off. That said, I personally know people with $200,000 houses that only make around $50,000 a year. Their belts are tight, but they are loving their house!

Answer 3

Sure you can, By having the minimum down payment and you can pay the bill each month, you can do it.
Although if you want to live more comfortable look in the 95-125,000 range. You can get a great house and still have money per month left over without the size of the 200k house payment.

Answer 4

You should be able to but it will be harder for you as a female than it would a male, see if it was a male trying with good credit history he could easily get it. The reason for this is even though your earning a wage more than good enough to get a 200k house your a female and i dont know how old you are but theres a chance you might fall pregnant and then you cant work and earn your money for nine months and this worries the agents who sell you your house, also you would be entilted to longer than that of work so you can look after your baby, Then they cant kick you out the house due to laws and regulations and the agents end up waiting over twice as long for the money they should have.

Its the same with loans and everything. but i think you should be ok.

TIP. the person you have the interview with might seem nice and friendly but if they ask you if u have a boy friend say no it will help your chances

Answer 5

At $55K per year you will easily qualify for a loan on a gross income basis. But if you have a lot of debts that eat up your net pay, you will have less money available to meet your mortgage obligations.
Preapply for a mortgage to see where you stand, if you have been careful with your spending and credit, you will be able to enjoy your $200K home.

Answer 6

What is your credit score? how much indebtedness do you have? $55K is nice but if you are paying out $48K in payments to credit cards it is not so good. Go to a bank and spesk with a mortgage loan officer. They can tell you what you need to know. Then gat a Buyer Agent to help you.

Answer 7

Well Jessica, you could. Now be like me. I bought 5 acres and plan to get a house built. You could buy land and have your house built. That way, depending on where you live too, your loan of building a house is $70000, would definitely be worth 2 to 3 times that.

Answer 8

To qualify for buying a home you generally have to meet these requirements:
* Enough money for the Down Payment (3 to 20% of the purchase price)
* Two years of steady employment (same job or field)
* Good (not perfect) credit score
* Income that's 2 to 3 times higher than your expected mortgage payment

Answer 9

My dad makes about that much a year and he and my mom bought a house that was 250k and they're struggling to pay all the bills. If you're not sure you can afford it, just get a cheaper house and live your life carefree with no debt (like my mom and dad have =(

Answer 10

at 55k a year a 200k house shouldnt be a big deal but the more important question is should you what is the permanance of your situation is this really what you want where you want it ect....