If you keep careful track of your expenses, it´s not too difficult to estimate how much you can afford to spend on a house.

Here´s a list of expenditures that you can use to help tally up your monthly expenses:

1) Rent
2) Electricity
3) Gas
4) Cell Phones/ WI-FI
5) Auto Loan
6) Auto Insurance
7) Health Insurance
8) Renter´s Insurance
9) Savings/Retirement Contribution
10) Grocery Bill
11) Weekly Transportation
12) Restaurants/Food Delivery
13) Entertainment
14) Health Club
15) Child Care

16) School
17) Children´s Expenses
18) Housecleaning Expenses
19) Vacations (divide annual expense by 12 to figure monthly average)
20) Books/Music
21) Newspapers/Magazines
22) Laundry
23) Gifts
24) Major Purchases (stereo/computer)
25) Furniture/Decorating
26) Clothing
27) Sundries/Drugstore Items
28) Miscellaneous Expenses

• If your monthly expense total is too close to your monthly after-taxes take-home pay, you should start looking at ways to cut them down.

• One of the newest ways to get pre-qualified for a home loan in minutes is a system called "Computerized Loan Origination" (CLO). Some brokers use it in their offices, but they´re currently unregulated so there are still some potential problems with them:

  • Many CLOs only use mortgage packages from one lender. Therefore, the mortgage company and broker view you as a captive audience, and you could wind up paying more than market value for your loan.

  • Even if more than one lender is included in the CLO, it still may not be truly competitive. It´s best to use a CLO only when all lenders are included.

  • The broker may ask you to pay a fee for using his CLO service. Be aware, however, that the broker may have a financial arrangement with the mortgage company or companies displaying their loan packages. In that case, the broker may have a financial incentive to steer you away from better loan.
    
    
• The best person to pre-qualify you for a loan is usually an independent lender, not your broker, particularly if they´re a sub-agent for the seller.