That's the big question.

The Answer: How much of a first time home mortgage you get approved for depends, first and foremost, on how much you can afford.

Home Mortgage

And what you can afford depends on:

a) How much you can reasonably pay each month (or week)

b) How much money you have upfront, to pay as a deposit (down payment)

c) Whether you have enough cash to pay for the professional services you use when buying a house (closing costs)

Here's a simple way of working out how much mortgage you can afford:

1. Add up all your income

2. Add up all the money you spend (less rent if you're paying rent at the moment)

3. Take your total spend (step 2 above) away from your total income (step 1 above)

4. Add up all your savings and any gifts of money.

The figure you get at step 3 above, is the maximum amount of money you have to spend in mortgage payments.

The figure you get at step 4 above, is your down payment plus closing costs.

But that's not all.

How much mortgage you get approved for also depends on how confident your lender feels that you will continue to repay your mortgage until it ends.

This confidence - or lack thereof - is based on:

a) Your credit history and profile. So if with the loans and credit cards you already have, you always make your payments on time, it's a good sign that you will continue to be consistent with your mortgage. Also, the actual amounts of money you have left to pay off on your loans and credit cards, matter.

b) Your employment situation. The less likely it is that you will become unemployed, the happier mortgage lenders will be to take a risk with you.