The first step in buying a home is determining how much you can afford to spend. Our advisors will help you establish a budget based on your annual income (including your household salary plus any pension or investment income) and the amount of cash you have on hand for a downpayment. They will use a simulator to calculate the maximum amount you can spend on a new home. They will take into account the ongoing cost of owning a home: as a rule of thumb, mortgage payments and home maintenance should account for no more than one-third of your household’s gross annual income.