Home Affordability Calculator
Find your maximum home purchase price based on income, debts, and rates.
Your Financial Details
Car, student loans, credit cards, etc.
30-year fixed rate
Maximum Home Price
$358,110
Based on the 28/36 qualifying rule
Monthly Payment Breakdown
Down Payment
16.8%
$60,000 of $358,110— PMI required
Housing-to-Income Ratio
28.0%
$2,458/mo of $8,333/mo income(max 28%)
Note: Lender may qualify you for more or less. Consult a mortgage professional.
About Home Affordability Calculator
This calculator uses the standard 28/36 qualifying rule used by most mortgage lenders. Your monthly housing costs (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance) should not exceed 28% of your gross monthly income, and your total debt obligations should not exceed 36%. Enter your annual income, existing monthly debt payments, down payment savings, current mortgage rate, and estimated property taxes and insurance to see the maximum home price you can comfortably afford. A down payment below 20% will also include an estimate for private mortgage insurance (PMI). Always consult a licensed mortgage professional before making purchasing decisions.
Built and maintained by Meet Shah · Last updated
What this tool is used for
- Getting a rough sense of a price range before speaking to a lender.
- Seeing how much a larger deposit changes the affordable price.
- Understanding how existing debts reduce borrowing capacity.
- Comparing two rate scenarios on the same income.
- Producing a figure to sanity-check a lender's own estimate.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the 28/36 rule?
- Housing costs should stay under 28% of gross monthly income, and total debt payments under 36%. Both come from mortgage underwriting practice rather than personal finance advice, which is why they describe what a lender will approve rather than what is comfortable.
- What counts toward the housing figure?
- Principal, interest, property tax, homeowners insurance and any HOA fee — the PITI plus dues that lenders actually underwrite. Comparing a mortgage principal-and-interest quote against rent understates the real cost by 20–30% in most markets.
- How much does the interest rate change what I can borrow?
- Dramatically, and more than most buyers expect. At a fixed monthly payment, moving from 4% to 7% reduces the affordable loan by roughly a quarter over 30 years — the payment buys interest first, so the rate compresses the principal it can support.
- Does a larger deposit do more than reduce the loan?
- Yes. Crossing 20% typically removes mortgage insurance entirely, which is a monthly cost buying you nothing, and it usually improves the rate offered. The step at 20% is worth far more than the same money applied below that threshold.
- What does this calculation leave out?
- Maintenance, which is commonly budgeted at 1% of the property value a year, plus closing costs, moving, and the furniture nobody plans for. A figure that is affordable on the mortgage alone and ignores upkeep is how people become house-poor.
Common errors and gotchas
- Treating the result as an approval, which only a lender's underwriting provides.
- Omitting taxes, insurance, service charges and maintenance, which are substantial and ongoing.
- Using a headline rate rather than the one you would actually be offered.
- Assuming the maximum affordable is the amount to borrow, which leaves no margin.
- Ignoring that rates and terms change, which a fixed calculation cannot capture.