After you find that you are credit worthy, take your gross income (2 years at job - W2 income hopefully) and multiply it by 45%. $2500 mo X 45% = 1000...then...um.. I tell you what, follow the link below and it'll tell you...

There are two different thoughts: Prequalifying or Pre Approval. The pre approval seems to carry more weight with sellers and actually is a time saver for you in the long run. The pre qualification process is just a matter of getting your credit pulled by someone in the mortgage industry and answering a few questions about income etc. The pre approval is abit more involved in that your credit is checked and then financials are gathered from you and an application is taken. This will allow the broker or Mortgage Banker to give a stronger letter showing your ability to apply and your overall seriousness of buying a home. After these documents are presented to the mortgage person then they should be able to calculate how much home you can afford. Let me know if we can help.

Simply, apply!!

Talk to friends/family/co-workers and see who they used. People who had a good experience with their lender will remember their loan officer.
Otherwise, you can ask a realtor to refer you to a loan officer. Realtors know the good ones and the bad ones!!

Typically an FHA loan requires only 3.5% downpayment and the seller can pay up to 6% of your closing cost and prepaids. FHA loans will allow you to spend up to 35% of your gross monthy income towards the princial, interest, tax and insurance.

You should get with a mortgage lender for a full application and have them pull your credit and go over your income to see where you stand.

I can prequalify you in about 30 mins if you would like to apply online