Tool
How much house can I afford
A realistic price range from your income, your debts, and what you can put down, using a simple payment rule you can read on the page. A planning number, not a lender pre-approval.
Your numbers
Down payment
The loan
The rules
Comfortable home price
Monthly payment on the comfortable price
- Principal & interest
- $0
- Property tax + insurance
- $0
- Total housing payment
- $0
- Plus your other debts
- $0
- Cash down at closing
- $0
Lenders use their own formulas and will also look at credit, reserves, and more. Treat this as a starting point, not a green light.
The bank will say yes to more than you can carry
Two questions hide inside “how much house can I afford.” One is which house you could get approved for. The other is which house you would still be glad you bought after the fridge dies and the car needs brakes. Lenders answer the first question, and they have to. Approving mortgages is their business. The gap between those two answers is the whole reason this page exists.
A pre-approval is a statement about your credit, your debts, and your income on the day the lender ran the numbers. It says nothing about whether the payment fits. Freddie Mac’s guide allows a total debt-to-income ratio as high as 65% in some circumstances, and treats 28% of gross monthly income for housing expenses as a guideline that can be stretched when a borrower brings offsets (Selling Guide, Section 5401.1). Neither is a target. One is the edge of what a lender will approve, and the other is a guideline they can bend. Neither asks whether the payment will still feel comfortable in a bad year.
Freddie Mac’s research on first-time buyers put numbers on the downside. The strongest predictor of later financial stress, measured as a 60-point drop in credit score, was the debt-to-income ratio at the moment the loan was originated (The Drivers of Financial Stress and Sustainable Homeownership). Those borrowers’ average first payment took 24% of income on a government-sponsored enterprise loan and 27% on an FHA or VA loan, before property tax, insurance, utilities, or a single repair. The ratio they started with predicted what came later better than their credit score did.
So this calculator uses the ratio as the rule instead of the approval. It caps total housing costs, caps all debts together, and works backward from the payment to a purchase price. The defaults sit tighter than the guideline on purpose, and both percentages are editable, so you can see which assumption produced the number and change the one you disagree with.
What this number leaves out
A purchase price is not a budget. This page covers the mortgage payment, property tax, and homeowners insurance, because those are the costs that scale with the price and the loan. It does not count closing costs (roughly 2% of the purchase price, paid upfront), mortgage insurance when you put less than 20% down, HOA dues, utilities, or repairs. Set aside about 1% of the home’s value each year for upkeep and the gap gets wider still.
Finally, the number assumes you keep working. If your income is commission, seasonal, or freelance, run it against your worst twelve months rather than your average one.
Frequently asked questions
How does this calculator decide the number?
Two caps, both editable. Your comfortable price is the most you could pay while keeping total housing costs under the housing limit you set and all debt payments under the all-debt limit you set. The stretch price pushes housing to the all-debt ceiling and goes no further. Every percentage is a field on the page, so if you think 30% is your real limit, change it.
Is this the same as what a bank will approve?
No, and it is usually lower. A lender works down from a hard ceiling: Freddie Mac’s guide allows a total debt-to-income ratio up to 65% in some cases, then adjusts for your credit score, your reserves, and the property itself. What comes out is a number you can qualify for. This page is for the other question, what you want to carry.
Should I buy the maximum I can afford?
Usually not. Room in the budget absorbs repairs, an insurance jump, a bad month at work. Freddie Mac’s research on first-time buyers found the strongest predictor of later financial stress was the debt-to-income ratio at the moment the loan was originated, ahead of credit score.
What does it leave out?
Closing costs, mortgage insurance on a low down payment, HOA dues, utilities, and repairs. A first-year rule of thumb is to set aside roughly 1% of the home’s value each year for upkeep, money this number does not budget for you.
Do you keep the numbers I enter?
No. Everything runs in this browser. Nothing is sent to us, saved to an account, or tied to you.