Part of The Bankrate site also allows you to explore the cost of a home by starting with the payment you can afford In the Week 2 Budget spreadsheet, you analyzed household budgets corresponding to different incomes. Suppose you are earning an annual salary of $50,000 - this is the national average starting salary for a college graduate. This Information is in column E of that spreadsheet. How much did you budget for housing each month for a person earning $50,000 a year? Refresh the Bankrated page. This should return the settings to the defaults of 20% down payment, 30 year term, and current interest rate. To the right of the little cartoon house on the Bankrate site, you can see the estimated monthly payment. Use the blue slider under this number to adjust the monthly payment to match your budgeted amount (as closely as you can) What is the resulting home price