Step $1$: Using

Zillow.com or

Redfin.com, find a house in the region of the country you plan to live in after graduation. It does not have to be for sale at the time of writing this $-$ you can use the estimate of the home's price provided by the website. If you already own a home, find a home you'd be interested in moving to after graduation $($even if you have no serious plans to move$).$ Share the price of the home in your post for this step, and be sure to cite the link to the home at the bottom of your post in proper APA format.

Step $2$: Calculate how much a $20\%$ Down Payment on the house would be$.$ Be sure to clearly state what this amount would be$,$ in dollars. Now, calculate the loan amount $($that is$,$ how much money you'll need to borrow$)$ by taking the price of the house and subtracting your down payment from it$.$ Be sure to clearly indicate what this loan amount will be$.$

Step $3$: Calculate your closing costs by estimating that closing costs will be $3\%$ of the loan amount. Then, calculate your cash to close by adding the closing costs with the down payment amount from Step $2.$ This cash to close amount is how much money you'll already need to have in savings to facilitate the purchase.

Step $4$: Using a search engine, find the national average interest rate for a $30-$year fixed mortgage and share it in your post, as a percent.

Step $5$: Then, use this online calculator $.$ Calculate the monthly mortgage payment for buying this house. You will put in the loan amount you found in Step $2,$ the interest rate you just found in Step $4($keep it as a percent$),$ and will put in a $30-$year loan term. Clearly state the mortgage payment amount in your post.

$($Note: Keep in mind this mortgage payment is just what the lender receives from you each month for paying off the loan. You will also have property taxes and insurance, which we will not calculate here, and these coupled with your mortgage payment represent your true housing payment each month$).$