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First-time home buyer guide outlines budgeting and mortgage basics
The guidance recommends keeping total housing costs to about 28% of gross pay and using a gross monthly salary divided by four to estimate a target payment.
HousingWire-style personal finance coverage from Yahoo Finance lays out a step-by-step framework for first-time home buyers entering the 2026 housing market, emphasizing readiness, loan eligibility, and affordability planning.
The article says eligibility for many first-time home buyer loans typically depends on having a steady household income and a manageable debt load, and it notes that a first-time buyer generally has not owned a home in the prior three years, with specific exceptions for certain household situations.
For budgeting, it recommends estimating a target monthly payment by dividing gross, pre-tax monthly income by four, then accounting for more than principal and interest by including property taxes and homeowners insurance.
It also cites lenders’ guidance that housing costs should total around 28% of gross pay, describing the approach as a debt-to-income ratio framework, and it reviews loan term and interest rate concepts that affect monthly payment levels.