Is It Still Possible to Find an Affordable Home? | Guiding You Forward

If you’ve been trying to decide if you should buy a home this year or if you should wait, this podcast is for you. Today in the podcast lounge, we’re talking with Kara Loftus, vice president of mortgage services at Mountain America Credit Union.

Watch the full video to learn:

• The state of the housing market.

• How much of your income you should expect to pay for housing.

• What zoom towns are and how they affect the housing market.

We all know the last two years have been challenging, to say the least. When it comes to real estate, buyers are facing price hikes, bidding wars and more. How is anyone supposed to find an affordable home in this environment?

“Unfortunately, there’s no magic potion,” says Kara. “The most important thing is to look for a home you can afford.”

That’s why getting preapproved BEFORE you go house-hunting is so important. Kara explains how taking this step will show you exactly the price range to be searching. There’s nothing worse than falling in love with a house and then finding out you can’t qualify for the mortgage.

One tip from Kara regarding your preapproval amount—just because you CAN purchase a home at a certain price point doesn’t mean you SHOULD. What does she mean by that? You may have amazing credit and are able to qualify for a higher amount. That’s terrific! But your budget may not support a monthly payment that high.

No matter what your preapproval amount is, always plug it into your budget to see if you can sustain it before making any purchase decisions.

There’s another way to see if you’re spending the right amount on your new home. Kara shares that a good rule of thumb is for your housing expenses (everything but utilities) should be about 30-40% of your gross income. Watch the video for more mortgage budgeting tips from Kara.

Have you ever heard of zoom towns? In the wake of the pandemic, one thing that many companies learned was that employees can work just as efficiently from home than they can at the office, sometimes more so.

Kara explains that, without the constraints of needing to live near their workplace, many people are choosing to live in zoom towns and work remotely. A zoom town is a community that experiences a significant population increase due to an influx of remote workers. These areas are typically small and unspoiled with a low cost of living and often feature popular outdoor activities like hiking, skiing or boating.

Watch the podcast video above to see more of Kara’s episode.