When it comes to buying a home, whether you are a first-time buyer or ready to shop for a winter retreat or summer cottage, the question is never why, it’s always how: mortgage – can I afford it? Determining how mortgages work can help you understand how to afford your mortgage.

A mortgage is the dollar amount of money you have to borrow from a lender to make the purchase of the property you want. In this article, Financial Know How: Mortgage – Can I Afford It, you will gain some insite as to how mortgages work to help you better understand how to select a mortgage that you can afford.

The first thing you need to understand is that for the most part, how much mortgage you qualify for is dependent on three things: your gross income, your existing debt, and your credit rating. You may not be able to do anything about your gross income, since you may not have any control over your salary, but when you understand how mortgages work, you can certainly begin to address the other two components of your eligibility, debt and credit rating.

Debt and credit rating are directly related to each other, because how you repay debt and how much debt you carry both affect your credit rating. When you understand how mortgages work, you realize that to be able to afford a mortgage, it helps if you can pay off other debt. When you pay off other debt, you will also improve your credit rating, which will make lower interest rates more accessible and allow you to afford a larger mortgage loan.

If your credit rating isn’t at its best, there are things you can do to quickly improve it. Review your credit report for inaccuracies and address them (you have the right to a free copy of your credit report once per year). If you have negative credit reports from charged off debt, arrange to pay it for quick improvement to your ratings.

Finally, make your credit card and loan payments before the due dates each month. With this financial know-how and a better understanding of how mortgages work, you are armed with the knowledge you need to obtain a mortgage loan.

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Biography: Monica McKinney is a Mortgage Loan Strategist, licensed and certified in Real Estate and Mortgage Loan Brokering. Monica is also an Award Winning Writer and has just authored an exciting new mortgage approval guide, “Mortgage Approved!: Your Easy All-In-One Home Loan Kit, The ONLY Mortgage Approval Guide You’ll EVER Need”. This great approval guide book is filled with insider secrets, mortgage loan help and mortgage loan tools. Get more mortgage information from Monica. Click: Get Informed…Get A Mortgage