Home Affordability Calculator
Estimate a starting range for the home price your budget might support before you talk to a lender.
This uses illustrative 28% housing and 36% total-debt ratios. It is not a lender prequalification and does not include every ownership cost.
Budget capacity is not loan approval
This tool uses illustrative debt-to-income ratios to create a planning range. Lenders use their own underwriting, and your comfortable payment may be lower than what a lender would approve.
Stress-test the result
Try a higher rate, higher taxes and insurance, and a smaller down payment. A home that only works under optimistic inputs is a warning sign.
Understand the model’s two limits
The tool first takes 28% of gross monthly income and subtracts the taxes-and-insurance input. It separately takes 36% of gross monthly income, subtracts your existing debt payments and the same housing-cost input, then uses the smaller remainder for principal and interest. These are planning assumptions, not universal lender approval rules.
Enter expenses consistently
Use required monthly payments for existing debts, not their total outstanding balances. Enter annual property tax and insurance as monthly amounts after dividing by twelve. Add any other recurring housing charges to your budget separately; the input label does not establish that the tool includes every cost of ownership.
Keep closing cash separate
The down payment raises the illustrated purchase price, but this model does not reserve closing costs or an emergency fund from it. Decide how much cash must remain after closing before entering the down payment. Do not assume every dollar in savings is available for the purchase.
Compare with your take-home budget
Gross income is not the amount deposited into your bank account. Test the proposed housing cost after tax, retirement contributions, childcare, transport and other essentials. If the estimate leaves too little room, lower the target even when the displayed price looks attainable. Compare written lender figures using the CFPB Loan Estimate explainer, then use the mortgage calculator to isolate the financing payment.