February 8, 2016
If you are in the planning stages of an FHA mortgage loan, one of the most important things you can do once you’ve checked your credit report and FICO scores is to examine your budget now and begin making plans to budget for the monthly mortgage payment you’ll be making once the loan is closed.
There are mortgage calculators online that can help you do this–some help you calculate your mortgage with taxes and insurance, others help you to determine how much loan you can afford, and still others help you figure out how much you can borrow with your FHA mortgage.
How Much Can You Afford To Borrow?
One very helpful FHA loan calculator helps you determine the reasonable loan amount you can borrow. You’ll need to come to this process ready with some information including the term of the loan you want (15 or 30 years), the amount you anticipate putting down on the loan, a possible interest rate, property taxes, and most importantly, the amount of non-mortgage debt you’ll have when your mortgage payments begin.
How Much COULD You Borrow?
Another FHA loan calculator will give you a rough idea of how much a lender may be willing to offer you based on important data including your salary, credit card debt and other financial obligations, hazard insurance, property taxes and other information. When using this type of FHA loan calculator it’s important to enter your financial data as monthly obligations rather than yearly totals.
How Much Will My FHA Mortgage Payments Be?
To use this FHA loan calculator you’ll need to know the sales price of the home, the amount of property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, your down payment, and the term of your home loan (15 or 30 years). Entering this data will help you to draw up your monthly budget including your mortgage, but keep in mind that there are variables in these equations–including how much you choose to put down and other factors–that may affect the final total of your loan at closing time.
For ALL of these FHA loan calculators, remember that results are not a guarantee–interest rates may go higher or lower, your down payment plans or requirements may change, sales prices may fluctuate between now and the time you actually commit to a purchase, etc.
The figures you get from the FHA loan calculators here are based upon current FHA program guidelines. FHA loan rules require a minimum 3.5% down payment, plus upfront and monthly mortgage insurance in many cases. Other loan programs are available–speak with your loan officer for additional information.
Do you work in residential real estate? You should know about the free tool offered by FHA.com. It is designed especially for real estate websites; a widget that displays FHA loan limits for the counties serviced by those sites. It is simple to spend a few seconds customizing the state, counties, and widget size for the tool; you can copy the code and paste it into your website with ease. Get yours today:
http://www.fha.com/fha_loan_limits_widget
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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