> If you have a job, why wouldn't you buy as much house as you can afford?
Because interest rates are likely to go and then I wouldn't be able to afford that mortgage any more?
I'm kinda thinking about buying a house, so I filled in an online mortgage calculator to work out what sort of money i'd have to work with. It said i'd qualify for a mortgage that was twice as high as what I think I need to get somewhere really nice, or three times as high as what i'd need for somewhere quite good.
People buying as much house as the bank would approve them for rather than what they could afford is what caused the first bubble. We bought a house for 2x our annual income 3 miles from work. We could have bought in a trendier neighborhood but it would have come with an unreasonable mortgage and an extra 1.5-2 hours of commuting per day.
Obviously you should get a fixed-rate mortgage. When interest rates "go" you will have insanely cheap mortgage while inflation drives up the price of your house.
That said, I suggested buying as much house as you can afford, not for how much they are willing to lend you. That will be different for everyone.
Because interest rates are likely to go and then I wouldn't be able to afford that mortgage any more?
I'm kinda thinking about buying a house, so I filled in an online mortgage calculator to work out what sort of money i'd have to work with. It said i'd qualify for a mortgage that was twice as high as what I think I need to get somewhere really nice, or three times as high as what i'd need for somewhere quite good.
I don't need that much extra debt to worry about.