Car payments, student loans, credit cards, etc.
Get a Live Quote by Email or Text
Request current rates and loan options based on this affordability range. Add a mobile number if you prefer a text.
Calculator results are estimates for planning, not a loan approval, commitment, rate lock, or Loan Estimate.
What the home affordability calculator calculates
This tool works backward from your income, existing debts, and available down payment to estimate a practical maximum home price — rather than starting from a listing price and asking whether you qualify.
It applies two guideline ratios lenders commonly reference: a front-end ratio (housing payment against income) around 28%, and a back-end ratio (all monthly debt, including housing, against income) around 36%. Whichever ratio is more restrictive for your numbers sets the ceiling.
The result is a maximum home price alongside the resulting total housing payment, front-end DTI, and back-end DTI — so you can see not just a number, but why the calculator landed there.
How to use it, step by step
- 1Enter your annual household income before taxes — combine incomes if you're buying with a co-borrower.
- 2Enter your current monthly debt payments: car loans, student loans, credit-card minimums, and anything else that reports on your credit.
- 3Enter the down payment you have available, in dollars or as a percentage.
- 4Enter an interest rate and loan term to test, plus a property tax rate and insurance estimate for the area you're considering.
- 5Review the maximum home price, the resulting monthly payment, and both DTI ratios, then adjust any input to see how the range shifts.
A worked example
Example inputs
- Annual household income
- $108,000
- Monthly debts
- $400
- Down payment available
- $40,000
- Interest rate (example only)
- 6.5%
Result
Monthly income here is $9,000. A 28% front-end ratio caps the housing payment near $2,520; a 36% back-end ratio, after the $400 in existing debt, caps total housing payment closer to $2,840 — so the front-end ratio is the binding constraint in this example.
Working backward from roughly a $2,520 housing payment (principal, interest, estimated tax, and insurance) at the illustrative rate above, plus the $40,000 down payment, lands the maximum home price near $380,000. A different rate, tax rate, or insurance estimate would move this number.
The 6.5% rate above is an illustrative example input only, not a current quote.
How to read the result
Treat the maximum home price as a ceiling, not a target. Many buyers are more comfortable shopping meaningfully below the calculated maximum, especially once groceries, savings, and other non-debt expenses are factored in.
Whichever ratio — front-end or back-end — produces the lower price is the one driving your result. If back-end is the binding constraint, paying down a debt before you shop can raise your ceiling.
This is a planning estimate, not a pre-approval. An actual pre-approval also considers credit score, employment history, assets, and program-specific rules that this calculator doesn't model.
Common mistakes
- Maxing out the calculated ceiling and leaving no cushion for maintenance, moving costs, furnishing, or an emergency fund after closing.
- Entering gross (pre-tax) income incorrectly as net income, which understates what you can actually afford by the guideline ratios.
- Ignoring HOA dues, flood insurance, or other property-specific costs that aren't in the default tax-and-insurance estimate.
- Treating a single affordability number as fixed — a different down payment, term, or rate can move the maximum price by tens of thousands of dollars.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Use gross annual household income (before taxes and deductions). Lender affordability guidelines are built on gross income, so using take-home pay will understate what the calculator is designed to estimate.
No — it's a common guideline, not a universal requirement. Some loan programs and lenders allow higher ratios with strong compensating factors like a large down payment, significant reserves, or excellent credit. This calculator uses the guideline as a practical starting point.
Lenders sometimes qualify buyers to the maximum their program allows, which can be higher than the 28%/36% guideline this calculator uses. A lower, more conservative number here is often a more comfortable target for your actual monthly budget.
It factors the down payment amount into the housing payment estimate; if your down payment is below 20%, your actual payment will likely be somewhat higher once PMI is added — the mortgage payment calculator shows that in more detail.
Use your current monthly debts. If you plan to pay something off before applying, rerun the calculator with the lower debt figure to see how it changes your range — just make sure the payoff actually happens before you apply.