If you are wondering how much home you can afford, the answer might be easy to find. If you have ever driven though a great neighborhood and found a home for sale that looks really interesting to you, you can check into the price, but until you know how much home you can afford, there is really no reason to look further into it. You can try to guess about how much home you can buy, but the only real way to find out is to talk to a mortgage broker. It a few short minutes, they can give you a good idea of what you qualify for.

Of course, they will have to check out lots of things on your application and get a current credit report before you are actually qualified, but you can often a get a letter that shows you are prequalified for a certain amount of money. Most realtors prefer to show homes to people who are prequalified with a lender. It is still possible to choose a different lender or another loan, but the letter will say that you are a good buyer and have the means to buy the home you are looking at.