When you’re looking to purchase a new home, you’re going to have to ask yourself what kind of mortgage that you can afford.  If you’re fighting off debt and you have $25,000 in student loans, it may not be a good time to buy.

It’s always best to use the best judgment to figure out what’s going to work the best for you.  If you have to ask yourself if you can afford it, you may not be able to afford it.  Experts will tell you that you shouldn’t spend more than 1/3 of your take home pay on a monthly mortgage payment.  For example, if you take home $4,000 a month, you wouldn’t want to spend no more than $1300 on a mortgage payment.

The key is that you want to be comfortable with your bills.  You don’t want to have a mortgage of $1,500 and you only bring home $2,000.  This just doesn’t make sense.  If you need help with your mortgage affordability, here are a few calculators that you can look into to help you better decide whats best for you.

• #1 Yahoo! Real Estate: This calculator makes it easier for you.  Input all of your bills, the funds you have for a down payment, and more.  It will give you a great idea on what your payments should be to make you feel very comfortable.
• #2 CNN Money: This one is fairly simple, but gets the job done.  Simply put in your annual income, monthly debt, down payment, and get the answers that you need.
• #3 BankRate: I like BankRate for more reasons than just this calculator, but you will find that this one will help you get on the right track.  It reminds me of the Yahoo! one, where you can input a lot of data.  I figure that the more you give, the more you’re going to get back in terms of what you can afford.

These calculators should give you a good idea on where you stand in terms of your mortgage.  The more information you give to these calculators, the more you’ll get back in terms of numbers.  While many of us out there don’t really have a budget, it’s essential that you create one so that you know where you stand in terms of cash flow.  The more you know with your budget, the more comfortable that you’ll be with your mortgage.