One of the most common mistakes that people make when they're looking for central Toronto real estate or real estate here in Norwalk, Connecticut, is overextending themselves financially because they didn't take the time to properly calculate how much they could afford in mortgage payments. It may seem like a good idea to "invest" as much of your money as possible in real estate, but you could lose the property - and your investment - if you can't keep up with the payments.

To figure out how much you personally can afford, follow these two simple rules. 1: save at least 20% of the purchase price of the home as a down payment. While some banks allow you to put much smaller down payments on Leaside homes, taking out these types of mortgages will leave you making payments for much longer, which will cost you a lot extra in interest. If you can't manage the down payment, you're not ready to own.

Rule number 2: never spend more than 30% of your income on your mortgage payments. That doesn't seem like a lot, but consider how much else you have to use your money for: heat, lights, insurance, car payments, food, entertainment, clothing, necessities, the list goes on and on. If you're paying too much for your Yonge and Bloor apartment, you're going to find yourself having to cut back on things you thought were essential just to stay afloat. Note that this is the total income for your household, so you can combine with your partner to afford more.

These percentages allow you to figure out if you can afford a particular home with a mortgage from a particular bank, but what about general case mortgages so you can know which Mississauga homes for sale to look at and which to skip over? In these cases, you'll want to get a rough estimate from a mortgage calculator. You can find one that's pre-loaded with mortgage rates available in Connecticut at www.mortgageloan.com/rates/Connecticut.

Just to give you an idea of the sorts of figures you'll be looking at for buying a home in Norwalk, here are some averages. The median, or middling, sale price for a home is nearly $340,000, which means you'd have to save $68,000 for a down payment to afford this average home. This is much cheaper than real estate in Downtown Toronto. Meanwhile, the average household income in Norwalk is about $65,000 per year or $5,400 per month. This average family could afford mortgage payments of about $1,600 per month.