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better financial decisions for your mortgage
Tips, steps, procedures, comparison tools... Everything you need to get to your new home.
What mortgage can I afford? What house can I pay for with my salary?
Simulator that helps you find out what home you can buy
Honestly, it is the first thing you need to know when buying a house. If you are thinking about buying your first home, you are excited, you think it is a good time, you have something saved and you see the future with some stability, we are going to help you get an idea of what your home could cost and what mortgage you can get. So, if you want, you can start choosing neighbourhoods and looking at houses and flats today.
- It is important to know that it is a long-term commitment.
- You must be excited about the thought of having your own home.
- You will need to have savings for the down payment and initial expenses.
- It is vital that the monthly expense is no more than 30% of your salary.
- It's time for you to know what your budget is.
Example of what flat or house I can afford if I have a salary of €2,000, €3,000, €4,000...1
Your personal and professional situation, as well as your savings, will be key factors to find out the maximum you can get for a mortgage (up to 80% of the house appraisal value). If you add it to the standard 20% that you will have to contribute, plus expenses (another 15%), you will know your estimated budget to buy your house. Here are three examples to give you a better idea depending on your situation.
Pedro earns €2,000 per month
He is 33 years old and has been working for a bank for a long time. After a few years, he starts thinking of looking for a home of his own, even if it is a small one. He wants to see if it is feasible.
- He has saved €77,000.
- He can ask for a 30-year mortgage.
- Possible price of the house: 237.000€.
- Mortgage amount: 190.000€.
Clara earns € 3,000 per month
Clara is a doctor. She is 55 years old and finally has a permanent position, so she is happy and calm. She wants to look at new houses and see which ones she can afford.
- She has saved €86,600.
- She can ask for a 20-year mortgage.
- Possible price of the house: 271.000€.
- Mortgage amount: 216.500€.
María and Jorge earn 4,000 euros a month between the two of them.
They share work and life. They are 32 and 37 years old. Their design studio is going well and they have assigned themselves a salary of € 4,000 for both of them. They have savings and want to do the calculations to stop renting and see what they can buy.
- They have € 144,000 in savings.
- They can ask for a 30-year mortgage.
- Possible price of the house: 451.000€.
- Mortgage amount: 360.500€.
But of course, you are not Pedro or Clara or María and Jorge. Do your own numbers.
Get a pencil and paper. Ah! and a calculator, because we are going to give you a few formulas so that you get the right numbers, your numbers. Although it may seem like it, this is not an exam, you are using your data to calculate your estimated budget and the amount of each part of the purchase. Those numbers will give you a guide as to what house you can afford.
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What mortgage payment can I afford based on my wage?
A good formula for calculating it is: your wage x 0.40 = mortgage payment. For example, if you earn €2,000, you could pay €800 in mortgage per month, as long as you do not have other loans. If, for example, you have a car loan, you will have to subtract the loan payment from your income.
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Find out the maximum price of the house that you can buy based on your savings.
Previous to the previous one: your savings x 10/3 = your mortgage principal. That is, if you have saved € 30,000, you could apply for a € 100,000 mortgage.
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How much can I apply for with what I have saved?
Calculate the following: your savings x 8/3 = your mortgage principal. That is, if you have saved € 60,000, you could apply for a € 160,000 mortgage.
You know more or less how much the house you want costs. But do you know how much you will be paying each month?
Tip 1: get carried away by the price of the house. And there are 14 other tips.
To make your dream tomorrow's reality, here are some tips that will come in handy before buying your home. We've spotted 15 very common mistakes to avoid when buying a home for the first time.
And 6 golden rules to find out which house you can afford
- Savings: remember that you will need 20% of the price of the house and approximately 10% for expenses.
- Revenue: calculate your monthly mortgage payment, bearing in mind that it should not exceed 30% of your net income.
- The value of the house: stay within your budget when assessing areas, neighbourhoods that you like and the size of house you need.
- Age: if you are considering a longer-term mortgage, bear in mind that right now you must be less than 40 years old.
- Other common expenses: don't forget about other loans, what you spend on food shopping, your car, tennis lessons...
- Your life: stop and think about how you imagine yourself in a few years, about your other plans, what your job situation will be or whether you will have dependents.
Your questions, and those asked by almost everyone else
Important information
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Show/Hide legal text1 Calculations made based on an assumption of a variable-rate mortgage.
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