Preapproval Is The First Step
A Current client asked me this question after showing her a couple of condos.
"...what do you think a minimum salary should be for a place like this, because we are trying to figure out all this before we look into it more..."?
Perhaps I should have asked if she was pre-approved for a loan before showing properties, but my philosophy 
is not to push clients/customers up front. I don't mind showing a few properties before we get down to the brass tacks of buying a home, but this is something every buyer needs to know before that actually start house hunting..."how much house can I afford to buy?"
There is so much more to getting a mortgage than knowing what your salary can purchase. Time on the job, Credit, payment history, amount of debt, any bankruptcies, short sales or foreclosures in the recent past? Even the kind of mortgage you get and interest rates depends on those factors. I can naturally speak to some of these items, but that's really the job of a mortgage professional. There are a very select few mortgage people that I like to use or refer my clients to because of their knowledge in the area of mortgage finance and willingness to go the extra mile for my clients.
My young client was not aware of any of this, but I've put her in contact with an outstanding loan officer who is getting her pre-approved as I write this post and the next time we go out to preview homes we'll know exactly what her "salary can buy".
If you need a knowledgeable real estate professional in Madison or Huntsville Alabama area, why don't you let me Google that for you! I also know outstanding agents in all states and Canada should you need help relocating to a new area.
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