Option $2$:

Conduct a home buying analysis. Use

Zillow.com or an alternative website that allows you to review homes for sale in a neighborhood where you would like to live. Review the homes for sale. Be realistic on how much you might be able to afford. The homes that you review should be no more than three times your expected annual income. Select one home that you like and think is relatively good value $($based on the very limited research you conducted$)$ if you were ready to purchase a home today. Identify the home you selected in some manner $($on some home websites such as Zillow, each home has its own web address$).$

What is the sale price of the home?

What is the square footage of the home?

What is the price per square foot?

Why did you select this home? What in particular made it stand out above the other homes for sale?

Assume that you want to purchase the home that you selected for the quoted sale price. Assume that you make a down payment of $10\%$ of the home and obtain a mortgage loan for the remaining $90\%.$ Assume you can obtain a $30-$year mortgage at an interest rate of $5\%.$ Answer the following questions:

What is the monthly mortgage payment?

Now consider your payment if you were able to obtain a mortgage at a $4\%$ interest rate. By how much would your monthly payment decrease?

Now consider your payment if you obtained a$15-$year mortgage instead of the $30-$year mortgage at the $4\%$ interest rate. By how much would your monthly payment increase?

There are obvious trade$-$offs between a $30-$year and a $15-$year mortgage. Wofld you prefer to have a $30-$year or $15-$year mortgage? Why?