How much home can I really afford?

If you currently do not own a home and you are looking to buy a home as your primary residence, the 2 best options would be to do an FHA purchase with 3.5% down or a conventional purchase loan with 20% down. Since you will be having 3 colllege students in the next 5+ years I would probably go the FHA route. The rates are about the same as a conventional loan and you wouldn't have to put an extra 16.5% down. On a 250k purchase that would allow you to earn additional interest with the money you didn't allocate as a down payment ($41,250 on a 250k sales price) in an interest bearing financial instrument that will help build your principle for the next five to eight years for tuition.Based on your income it would appear that you would be eligible for the FHA maximum loan amount for your state. I can look this up for you if you wish, my email address is besquivel@bncnationalbank.com. To give you an example though, an FHA purchase of 250k would give you an estimated total monthly payment of $1655 per month (principle, interest, homeowners insurance, property taxes and monthly FHA private mortgage insurance)Feel free to contact me, Brian Esquivel at 602.688.1339 if you want me to do a more formal loan approval for you. I am able to do home loans in every state.