Halley, the idea is to decide what you WANT to afford rather than what you CAN afford. Do your own math to figure out what is the highest monthly payment for a mortgage that would not make mortgage payment day a dreadful day each month.

Then call on of the lenders here and ask them to:
1. backwards figure what that equates to in home price and
2. confirm that you can qualify for a that home price

I would use one of the folks here since they are demonstrating with their time that they will focus on your needs and answers.

Halley,
How much money you can afford for a home has to do with your earnings and your spending habits and your spending needs. There is a place on my web site that will give you a work sheet for this and explain it better. You will not have to obligate yourself to me or to a mortgage broker to go to this site, and unless you contact me I will not know you have visited the site so feel free to surf all you want.

why not call me?...i'll be glad to figure what you can qualify for....bob mcclure- mortgage now- farmington, michigan (248) 974-4444 weekends are fine...i have almost 14 years of experience, and am licensed in your state...

No matter where you are the answer is straightforward although not simple.
Start with your gross income and reduce it to 43% (knock off 57%). Say on $50k income you be left with $21.5k. This computes to a monthly available income of $1,792.
Next subtract all your current debt payments you make each month, e.g. student loans, credit cards, car loan. Say that's all $650/month, That leaves $1042 a month that you could spend on housing.
Find the house insurance rates typical for the area you're going to buy in (e.g. 0.8% annually), and the real estate tax rates for the neighborhood (e.g. $23 per $1000 of assessed value). Add these two rates together (e.g. 0.8%/12 plus 2.3%/12 = 0.258%/month).
Next, take the current market interest rate for loans and calculate the monthly loan factor. By coincidence the 6% market rate computes to 0.6% per month. You'll have to ask a loan officer for a full table of rates and factors or find one on the Internet. Now you can add the two together to find the monthly full-loaded PITI factor (e.g. 0.6 + 0.2583 = 0.8583%).
Take the remaining monthly available salary (e.g. $1042) and divide it by the monthly PITI factor (e.g. 0.008583) and you'll get a property value with a 100% loan on it (e.g. $121,402.).
Of course these days you will have a lot of difficulty finding a 100% loan, but you'll be close to your answer. A maximum 97% MyCommunity or FHA loan will be slightly under that on monthly payment, so the property value could be about 3% higher.
Warning: rates vary a lot, Check with your lender. A 7% interest rate has a monthly loan factor for 30 years of 0.665%, not 0.6%, which will lower the maximum property value you can buy. You'll need to know the actual interest rate at the time you buy to figure it out. If you need the full table of factors, just ask.
Also, this does not compute the cash you need to pay up front or at closing to buy the house. The 3% down payment is part of your cash needed but also costs for inspections, title insurance and so on and so forth. You may be able to get the seller to pay some of these or have some of them rolled into your loan.
Insurance rates also vary a lot and it is not surprising to find rates of 1 - 1.5% annually of the property value. Some places they're lower. You'll have to dig around with insurance agents to find out what premiums are where the house is. Rates are typically different by zipcode or county. The contribution to the monthly payment is fairly small, so you might just estimate it.
This question has come up before and I have been trying to build a calculator for my website to help people answer this question by themselves. Unfortunately, there are so many factors to consider that the answer is just a good guess, not a definitive answer, despite the 6-digit precision shown.
Now, having a property value, you can go search for properties that meet your number. If you have cash to put down (if you're an investor, it's required), you can increase the price you're looking for appropriately (remember to subtract closing costs and prepaids from your cash in the bank, plus leave a buffer for other expenses).
This method applies to Woodlands or other places. So, check the prices on Realtor.com

Definitely start with a lender. You can see what payments would be by checking out http://www.bankrate.com. You then can go to http://www.txcountydata.com/ type on the county you want to live in and get a tax rate. Add them together plus insurance and you should be able to see what you monthly will be around.
J.

Definitely start with a lender. You can see what payments would be by checking out http://www.bankrate.com. You then can go to http://www.txcounty.com type on the county you want to live in and get a tax rate. Add them together plus insurance and you should be able to see what you monthly will be around.
J.

A lender is the best place to start. The Mortgage Interest and Property Tax Rate will be very important in this answer. A mortgage professional is the way to go. There are many good ones here and we could all recommend one if you need it. Good Luck.

You need to get preapproved! You can do so by visiting my website: http://www.TexasRealEstateMommies.com

Housing is extremely affordable in our area. The best way to figure out what would work for you financially is to consult your lender's website for mortgage calculator info. Depending on how much you have to put down, you could avoid paying PMI (private mortgage insurance) and escrowing your taxes and hazard insurance. These are all things to take into consideration when determining how much you can afford.