How much can I afford to spend on a home?

The most you can spend depends on your household income, savings, monthly expenses, credit score, deposit (your loan to value ratio, or LVR, decides whether you also need to budget for Lenders Mortgage Insurance), dependants and debts, among other things. Your bank or mortgage broker will use these details to tell you your borrowing power.

Once you know your maximum borrowing capacity, you can compare repayments over different loan terms (for example 10, 20 or 30 years) and decide what you're comfortable spending, and whether to search at your maximum budget or aim lower.