One of the most common questions Realtors deal with is related to "how much house" a buyer can afford. A lender is a great place to start the home buying process because the lender can determine what buying power a home buyer is capable of. Then, with that information in hand, a buyer knows what price he/she should be shopping in. It would be terribly frustrating to shop for a $400000 house if a buyer's buying power is $232000.
There is second issue buyers should also consider when they start the 
buying process. That is time and interest. Time and interest rates can work for you, or they can work against you. A buyer may start the process qualified to buy a $232000 house at 4.5%, but what happens if he lingers for 6 months and interest rates inch up over that time? Let's say rates climb to 6%. That $232000 house will now be out of his buying range. Now, he can only afford to buy a $196147 priced home, but his house payment will be the same as the $232000 house.
Even if the rate only went up 1% to 5.5%, the buyer's buying power slips to $207119. No one wants to rush into buying a house, but being too causal in home buying process may cost you. In this scenario, the buyer lost nearly $25000 in buying power. If it went to 6%, he lost $35853 in buying power. It's very likely that the $36K loss in buying power is not going to produce the house he envisioned when he started the search.
Time really is money when the market is showing increases in housing prices and interest rates. Every increment up means less buying power. A buyer needs to be focused on finding the right house within his/her price range within a reasonable time. If not, he/she might be settling for less house at the same monthly costs.
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