A buyers housing-cost-to-income ratio, reffered to by lenders as the front-end qualification, is set at?
925269
I think around 33% max, include other long term debt payments in the percentage.
109371
There is no set answer.  If someone says "go 5% under" or something like that, it will a gross error.  How much you bid on a house depends on a lot of things:\nlocation is the most important.  Is the seller asking for a price that is comparable to other houses in the same area? After location, comes condition of the house.  Has it been well maintained? Does it need a new roof? Make sure you get an inspection.
415066
No. The mortgage company will pull a credit report 1 time. They will then get income and reserves from you as to down payment etc. This will then be put into the mortgage software program and it tells the loan professional just how much home you can afford for 15-20 25-30 year terms. You then have to settle on a home and the price you are willing to pay and the terms that you desire. If you have problem credit then he or she may have to submit your loan to several companies in order to close on your new home.
531934
The other people who answered this question are right.\n\nFor more detailed information, check out this article on my blog.\n\nhttp://ohiomortgages.blogspot.com/2006/04/stated-income-loans.html
121446
housing a.k.a mortgage payment
798783
Typically 1-2% is a fair amount, anything over that is usually on the high end and you should look around.  \n\nClosing costs are all financed into the loan if they know what they're doing.  The only charges that might be charged are for appraisal and credit report/application fee.  Other than that, you shouldn't be charged any of it up front.
158094
You mean debt to income ratio.....it is usually about 40-60 or somewhere in between.
366512
This isn't perfect or exact but this should be a pretty close representation of a typical family:\n\nhttp://www.bls.gov/ro9/cexphoe.htm\n\nIf you're in California or the east coast then I'd expect housing to be a lot closer to 50%-60% of income.
1075633
This is a great question!!  First of all, I'm amazed at how people WITHOUT any experience in the mortgage lending industry are offering advice to people about one of the most important issues in their life!!!  I am the General Manager of a large Mortgage Company.  Please listen!!!!!!\n\n1st of all....Congratulations on realizing that real estate is where the security of your financial being is centered!!  There are MANY programs that allow you...even a college student...to purchase a home.  I'm going to make a few assumptions.  1) Your credit score is higher than 620 and you have no serious collections over a period of the last 12 months.  2)  You can provide proof that you've been employed for at least 2 years.  3)  You're a citizen of the US.  4)  Your credit card HIGH LIMIT on at least ONE of the cards is $1000 or higher.  (If it's not, ask them to increase it to at least $1000)\n\nContact any reputable mortgage BROKER and explain your situation.  Typically, it's a broker than also has the ability to do FHA loans, though you don't HAVE to get an FHA loan.  They are monitored by the government to a greater degree and MUST be reputable!  There are MANY programs that offer 100% financing to you...that means, you will only have to pay the closing costs for the loan AND if you ask your real estate agent to locate homes where the owner is willing to provide SELLER CONCESSIONS, the seller can even pay the closing costs FOR YOU!!  MANY MANY sellers are willing to do this since it helps sell the home faster!  \n\nIF you can get a business license for ANY job or home based business through your city or county, no matter if you actually do any business through that company or not, and if you can show that you've had that business license for at least 2 years...sometimes a little less...you CAN QUALIFY FOR A "STATED" LOAN.  This is a loan that simply lets your credit score do the talking for you.  The lender assumes that you have a reasonable income (which you will "state" to them...whether it is true or not) and you don't have to provide proof of it!!  In the industry it is called a Liar's Loan.  A cute moniker that does not mean the loan won't be done.  Lenders understand that it is simply a tool that homeowners use when they can't prove their income.  The weigh the credit score and history against the risk of the overall loan amount.  Assuming your credit score is greater than 620...and it probably is much higher than that, you'll be fine.  The lender may need to see that you have 3 - 6 months worth of mortgage payments in the bank, so you're $7K will come in handy.  This is the only income verifcation they will do.\n\nInterest rates for this loan are a little higher, but not by much.  However, you can expect the overall rate to be higher than normal simply due to the low loan amount.  Any loan smaller than $100K incurs a higher interest rate.  It wouldn't be unusual for you to pay as much as 8 - 10%.  However, as scary as that sounds, keep in mind that the loan amount is VERY small (relatively) and the payments are stretched over 30 years, so the impact of a high rate on a small loan amount is negligible (comparatively).\n\nAs an example.  \n$40,000 @ 7% = $266 pmt (principle & interest)\n$40,000 @ 8% = $293 pmt\n$40,000 @ 9% = $322 pmt\n\n$30 per 1% is negligible!!\n\nIf you don't have a business license or don't want to wait that long, consider getting a co-borrower, like another party....mom, dad, sister, friend, etc.  With both of your incomes, you'll more than qualify for a standard, Fully Documented loan (Full Doc) where you have to prove your income with W-2's, etc.  After the loan is completed and closed, the other party can sign a QUIT CLAIM DEED at a title company and remove themselves from the title of the property.  They will still be a responsible party for the loan itself, but not have any rights to the property.  After 1 -
972862
Assuming you're paying no points, a 4% DOES NOT EXIST on a 30 Yr fixed rate mortgage.  The par rate (industry lingo for no points) is around 6.250%.\n\nThe poster's question looks suspiciously like an advertisement for the website.  I can't provide any proof, but I see it all the time on different message boards where the poster poses a question as if he/she is a consumer, and then provides a link to the website just to get people to visit.
714596
The buying public will decide what they want to pay for your house. If it is priced correctly, then, you'll get your price.
966780
Only through experience.  I am a mortgage professional too, with another company.  I'm still pretty new at it;  a lot of it is plain dumb luck.  The other half is getting the borrower to qualify under all the terms of the loan (income, credit, appraisal, w-2, DTI, etc).  It is extremely hard sometimes, and you get a lot of "fallout".   And, it depends on your compensation as well.  But as far as terminology and correspondent lenders, qualifying and amortization, those "complicated" things get easier over time.
420123
equated monthly installments (EMIs) \nLearning to work out EMI, loan eligibility\n\n[ FRIDAY, JUNE 04, 2004 01:00:37 AM] \n \nAn interesting aspect of home loan finance is the determination of eligible loan amount. One important yardstick is the percentage of debt service amount (represented by EMIs) to disposable or take home income. This should be around 35%. In actual practice, there could be discretion in fixing this figure and the band could be between 30-40%. \nIn fixing the percentage of income that can be appropriated for EMI, the lender ensures that the borrower has adequate income to meet family living expenses and continue the standard of living he is used to in the past, and the surplus that otherwise would have gone into some form of savings is available to pay EMIs. A high EMI that takes away a major share of the individual's income may lead to a possible default. A low EMI increases the loan period and consequently the risk of the lender.
171494
Traditionally, your home mortgage payments should be no more than 25% of your monthly net (not gross) income.
597426
Their dti, debt to income ratio.  if it is for real estate, ltv, loan to reail value, which determines the equity in the property and will let you know how much can be borrowed.  Basics, name, ssn, mothers maiden name, lengh of employment, lenght of residence, any other lending they have.
1129703
OK, sounds like a beginning.  Here's what your loan officer is going to be thinking about.  He's basically got two ratios: the inside and outside ratios.  The inside ratio is the percentage of your monthly income that goes towards your house.  That number's generally got to be under 28%.  So, if you're bringing $3,583 home a month (gross), then you can afford $1,003 per month for your mortgage payment (inside ratio).  Your outside ratio is usually around 42%, and that includes all your debt payments.  So, your student loan, credit card payments, mortgage, car payments, etc. all have to be less then $1,505 per month.  They'll use your credit report to get these numbers.  \n\nSo, that's how much they'll let you get.  \n\nNow, there are a lot of ways to finance a home.  Depending on your down payment (if any), your credit score, the quality of the home (can it pass FHA standards--no pealing paint, generally in good condition, etc.), and the type of loan you get, your actual payment may really vary quite a bit.  There are a lot of good programs today that can get the job done for people in about any situation.  Maybe the low interest rate because you're a teacher will be the best move to make.  Maybe a variable-interest rate is the way to go.  There are interest-only loans, direct investor loans, FHA loans, ARMs, etc.  Your loan officer is going to have a lot of ideas about how to get things done.\n\nI would recommend that you talk to a mortgage broker, rather than a banker first.  They'll have more options than a bank, and their motivation is to find a good fit for you.  If you are a member of a credit union, they are usually better than the banks as well.\n\nFor me, I believe that your home will generally appreciate over time, plus you get your interest paid as a tax writeoff.  It's generally a better idea to purchase a home than pay rent, even if you pay 20% more for the mortgage.  The way to make that work in your monthly budget is to check with an online service (irs.gov, turbotax.com, etc.) and find out what your taxes will be with and without your interest writeoff.  Then, make sure your witholdings match what you're actually going to have to pay.  That way you actually get enough in your paycheck to pay the extra for the mortgage, if that's the situation.\n\nFeel free to contact me via Yahoo! Answers if you have any followup questions (Email is generally better than IM).  Good luck.
932582
That's hard to say.  You haven't indicated if they are fixers or just distressed sellers.\n\nIf this is a rehab, I would probably pass.  People at that level have an expectation of what they will get when they spend that much money.  There isn't alot of room in there for error and when you are doing a rehab, you just never know what you are going to uncover.\n\nYou also have to keep in mind the holding and marketing/closing costs (typically 15%), so you can see the risk reward isn't really there.  Are you having to get a new mortgage for this?  That is going to cut into that equity a bit if you are 100% NOO financing.\n\nAs a real estate investor on homes like that, I always look at the "great deals" comment and know that if it were truly a great deal, it wouldn't be on the market for as long as it probably has been.\n\nHomes at that price level have alot of swing price wise, so at the end of the day you may be paying retail.  But since there is some play in the price, come at it $150K under that.  That is approximately 70% of retail and then you have a deal that you have many options in how to make money from the transaction from.\n\nKnow your criteria when you are doing real estate investing:  know what is a deal and what isn't.  Study your neighborhoods and pricing.  \n\nBottom line, you can make that much on lesser priced houses without as great a risk.