The mortgage payment you qualify for is not always the payment you should choose.

In this episode, I break down how I look at debt-to-income ratio, why your maximum approval should not become your budget, and how I help buyers find a payment they feel comfortable living with.

We talk about target payment, comfortable payment, maximum payment, student loans, credit-card debt, cash reserves, and why putting more money down is not always the smartest move.

The goal is simple.
Buy the house without becoming house poor.

Show Notes
A lender might approve you for a $4,000 payment.
That does not mean $4,000 should become your budget.

In this episode, I explain the three payment numbers I want every buyer to know before they start shopping:
Your target payment.
Your comfortable payment.
Your maximum qualifying payment.

I also break down why debt-to-income ratio matters, what starts to concern me when DTI gets higher, and why I want to look at your complete financial picture before deciding how much house makes sense.

We cover:
-How lenders calculate DTI
-Why qualifying income is different from the income you think you make
-Why student loans create so much confusion
-Why I ask buyers to send me actual houses instead of using generic payment estimates
-How taxes, insurance, and HOA fees change the real monthly payment
-Why credit-card debt is creating problems for buyers
-Why paying off debt might help more than putting extra money down
-Why I like buyers to keep cash reserves after closing
-Why your first house does not need to be your dream house
-How I think about homeownership, retirement, and long-term wealth
-After more than two decades in mortgages, I have learned one thing over and over:
-The biggest mortgage you qualify for is not the goal.
-The goal is finding the payment that lets you own the house, keep saving, build wealth, and still sleep at night.

Schedule your free consultation- http://schedulewithkeithgo.com
Send me a message - keith@keithgo.com