Deciding How Much House You Can Afford

Housing affordability in Lake Havasu City Arizona – a tutorial

Your lender decides what you can borrow, but you decide how much house you can afford.

Lenders in the Lake Havasu housing market are careful, but they make qualification decisions based on averages and formulas. They won’t understand the nuances of your lifestyle and spending patterns quite as well as you do. So, leave a little room for the unexpected – for all the new opportunities that your lake home will give you to spend money on, from furnishings, to landscaping, to repairs.

Historically, banks use a ratio called 28/36 to decide how much borrowers could borrow. An approved housing payment couldn’t be more than 28 percent of the buyer’s gross monthly income, and his or her total debt load, including car payments, student loans, and credit card payments, couldn’t be more than 36 percent. As home prices have risen, some lenders have responded by stretching these ratios to as high as 50 percent. No matter how expensive your market though, we urge you to think carefully before stretching your budget quite so much.

Unfortunately, the low income housing Lake Havasu has available has been shrinking, but there are still some good deals to be found. When the economy shifts from it being a sellers market to a buyers market, there will certainly be affordable housing in Lake Havasu. Compared to metropolitan areas, housing here is quite affordable.

According to the Arizona Multihousing Association, the economic output of apartment housing creates about $3.8 billion, while supporting 22,000 jobs and $699 million in wages throughout the state. While Arizona Multihousing Association officials say the state’s rental industry is healthy, affordable housing is beginning to vanish.

A February report from the Association indicates affordable housing, which accommodates renters earning between $25,000 and $75,000 per year, represents about 48 percent of the total housing market. But while the supply of such housing is diminishing, construction and planning for new apartment complexes throughout Arizona is trending toward the higher end of the housing market.

SUPPLY & DEMAND

The supply/demand imbalances and fluctuations are very noticeable in Lake Havasu and all of Mohave county in particular. Although the area is largely a second home and resort community, there is a still a strong demand and need for reasonably priced housing.

For the most part, the Lake Havasu housing authority for building and safety is generally easy to work with if you decide to purchase a lot and build. There are also a number of developments which are maturing or being newly undertaken such as The Riviera, The Villas, The Refuge, The Pointe, and more.

Deciding how much you can afford should involve some careful attention to how your financial profile will change in the upcoming years. In the long run, your own peace of mind and security will matter most.

If i can help you find your new home in Lake Havasu City AZ or the surrounding areas, please contact me.