Home affordability

What you can afford. Not what they'll lend you.

Real mortgage math with current taxes and insurance built in. The comfortable number is the price your income can actually support without house-poor regret. The lender max uses a 50% debt-to-income ceiling and ignores taxes and insurance.

Annual income (gross)
$
Monthly debt payments
$

Student loans, car, credit-card minimums, etc. — not rent.

Down payment
$
Mortgage rate
%

Roughly today's 30-year fixed.

Loan term
yr
Property tax rate
%

Annual, as % of home value. Varies a lot by state — TX ~2%, CA ~0.7%, national avg ~1%.

Annual homeowners insurance
$

Use a real number for your area; ~$1,500 is a national-average starting point.

What your numbers say
Methodology

The 28/36 rule: 28% of gross monthly income on housing (PITI). 36% total household debt — housing plus other monthly debt obligations. Whichever is binding sets your comfortable ceiling.

Binding rule for you: the 28% cap. Mortgage math is standard fixed-rate amortization (M = P × r × (1+r)ⁿ / ((1+r)ⁿ − 1)) plus monthly property tax and insurance. The lender max line uses a 50% debt-to-income ceiling and ignores taxes and insurance — which is why their number runs higher than the comfortable one.

Lender approval isn't permission.

The number you can borrow and the number you should are different conversations.

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Home affordability calculator — Justin Huynh