Interested in Your Own Personally Branded Magazine? Click Here!

Want to customize this content for your business?

Learn More

Categories

  • Home
  • Decor
  • Real Estate
  • Life & Culture
  • Food & Recipes
  • Holiday & Entertaining

  • Printables
  • Videos


General

  • About the Magazine
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Careers


Editorial

  • Editorial Calendar
  • Issue Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Pitch an Idea

American Lifestyle Magazine Logo
  • Home
  • Decor
  • Real Estate
  • Life & Culture
  • Food & Recipes
  • Holiday & Entertaining
  • Search
  • Follow
  • 0 Heart
  • |
  • Food & Recipes Categories
    • All Recipes (768)
    • Appetizers (140)
    • Breakfast (64)
    • Cooking Tips (41)
    • Desserts (219)
    • Dinner (232)
    • Drinks (59)
    • Gluten Free (9)
    • Healthy (71)
    • Lunch (11)
    • Quick & Easy (62)
    • Vegan (37)
    • Vegetarian (55)
Dinner | May 22, 2023

Scalloped Potatoes with Tomatoes and Anchovy Parsley Sauce

  • Holiday & Entertaining Categories
    • Celebrate (2)
    • Christmas (83)
    • Easter (15)
    • Entertaining (44)
    • Fall (11)
    • Father’s Day (6)
    • Halloween (29)
    • Hanukkah (17)
    • July 4th (36)
    • Mother’s Day (8)
    • New Year’s (23)
    • Spring (10)
    • St. Patrick's Day (11)
    • Summer (21)
    • Thanksgiving (36)
    • Valentine’s Day (5)
    • Winter (12)
Travel | Apr 6, 2023

Egg-citing Dishes from Around the World

  • Decor Categories
    • Crafts & DIY Projects (279)
    • Curb Appeal (6)
    • Decorate (82)
    • Interior Design (94)
Interior Design | May 26, 2023

A Modern Spanish Hacienda

Decorate | Apr 1, 2023

A Guide to Shopping Secondhand

Interior Design | Apr 1, 2023

A Modern Funk Redesign

  • Real Estate Categories
    • Buying & Selling (205)
    • Home Trends (23)
    • Staging (21)
    • Your First House (35)
Buying & Selling | May 15, 2023

America’s Best Cities

Staging | Feb 13, 2023

Put Your Best House Forward

Decor | Nov 14, 2022

Design Trends to Follow in 2023

  • Life & Culture Categories
    • Editorial (319)
    • Family & Pets (212)
    • Finances (36)
    • Health (159)
    • Travel (260)
Interior Design | May 26, 2023

A Modern Spanish Hacienda

Travel | May 26, 2023

A Surprising Way to Travel

Travel | May 22, 2023

Animal Friends

  • Home Categories
    • Cleaning (44)
    • Organizing (48)
    • Home Improvement (125)
    • Outdoors & Gardening (91)
Outdoors & Gardening | Mar 2, 2023

Prepping Your Home for Spring

Cleaning | Feb 28, 2023

Detail Your Car like a Pro

Home Improvement | Jan 18, 2023

4-Week Home-Improvement Challenge

Follow us on social media today!

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

Student Loans vs. Homebuying

Your First House | 2 Likes
SHARE
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn More

As the price of a college degree increases dramatically, so, too does student loan debt. Millions of American’s report that, even more than a decade post-grad, they are still stuck with thousands of dollars in student loan debt—and that’s the average.

 

Sign for a university

However, there is no reason to let the burden of student loans impact your decision to buy a home. With the right financial planning, you can end up in the home you desire without having to sacrifice your monthly loan payment.

 

Credit score

Your credit score is perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle in securing a mortgage loan for your new home. Lenders want to see that you are reliable in paying off your debts, and, while student loan payments (if you’re making them regularly and on time) should not affect your score too much, other payments can. Make sure you are on top of other monthly payments such as your car, insurance, and credit cards. Missing these payments or paying the minimum amount will negatively impact your score over time.

 

Stack of money

The down payment

A stressful thought, for sure—the down payment on your home is probably a big point of concern if you have a lot of built up debt as it is. The secret is that the perceived “20 percent down requirement” is not actually a requirement at all, but a suggestion. You don’t want to jump head first into a down payment if you know you can’t afford it, but don’t assume you have to put the maximum amount down in order to secure your ideal home.

 

Debt-to-income ratio

You may have heard this phrase before, or are at least experiencing the negative effects that student loans can have on this number. Either way, your debt-to-income ratio is the percentage of your income that is impacted by the amount of debt you carry. For some college grads, the ability to save even a little bit of money each month is impossible. But, like your credit score, your DTI is something banks will likely look at before offering a mortgage loan, so it’s important to keep this number in balance if you can.

 

Paper with

Patience

Whittling down student loan debt takes time for most people. It’s not uncommon to sit with this debt for upwards of fifteen to twenty years, so, above all, it’s important to be patient. If homeownership is your ultimate goal, be sure to give yourself a reasonable timeframe to get there so you don’t get overwhelmed and end up in an unfortunate financial position you can’t get out of.

6896 Views

This article is tagged in:

collegeDebtFirst HomeFirst HouseFirst Time Home BuyerHome AdviceHome BuyingHomebuyerLoansReal EstateReal Estate TipsStudent

Related Posts

Real Estate | May 15, 2023

America’s Best Cities

Life & Culture | Apr 1, 2023

A Modern Funk Redesign

Life & Culture | Dec 7, 2022

Getting Your Finances on Track after the Holidays

Real Estate | Sep 23, 2022

How to Shop for a Home Loan

Real Estate | Sep 21, 2022

Tips for Preventing Homeowner Identity Fraud

Popular Posts

can-planters-card
Decor | Mar 25, 2020

Make Your Own Can Planters

Home | Jul 8, 2021

Tips for Redesigning Your Patio Space

Life & Culture | Feb 17, 2020

Trash vs. Recycle: Do You Know When to Trash it?

spring-cleaning-countdown
Home | Mar 23, 2021

Spring-Cleaning Countdown

home office with white furniture
Life & Culture | Mar 30, 2020

Everyone Is Working From Home—Here’s How to Do It Effectively


You may also like:

can-planters-card
Crafts & DIY Projects | Mar 25, 2020

Make Your Own Can Planters

Outdoors & Gardening | Jul 8, 2021

Tips for Redesigning Your Patio Space

Health | Feb 17, 2020

Trash vs. Recycle: Do You Know When to Trash it?

spring-cleaning-countdown
Cleaning | Mar 23, 2021

Spring-Cleaning Countdown

home office with white furniture
Health | Mar 30, 2020

Everyone Is Working From Home—Here’s How to Do It Effectively

Buying & Selling | Dec 14, 2017

House Selling Checklist

Make Your Own Seed Paper
Crafts & DIY Projects | Mar 17, 2016

Make Your Own Seed Paper

Share on Social Media

Our mission is to deliver entertainment that inspires and motivates our readers, encouraging them to follow their passions as they explore new horizons.

© 2023 American Lifestyle Magazine

General
  • About the Magazine
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Careers
Editorial
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Issue Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Pitch an Idea
Categories
  • Home
  • Decor
  • Real Estate
  • Life & Culture
  • Food & Recipes
  • Holiday & Entertaining
Follow Us
Facebook Pinterest Instagram Youtube

Customize this content for your business!

Learn More

,