Affordability calculator
What price range should I actually be shopping in?
Lenders approve a maximum. That maximum is rarely the number you should shop at, because underwriting does not know about your childcare costs, your car that needs replacing or how much you would like to keep saving.
Affordability calculator
A price range that fits
$297,480
Comfortable price at a 36% debt-to-income ratio
- Underwriting ceiling (43% ratio)
- $371,894
- Comfortable monthly payment
- $2,200
- Maximum monthly payment
- $2,754
- Principal & interest$1,70077.3%
- Property tax$24811.3%
- Homeowners insurance$1506.8%
- Mortgage insurance$1024.6%
- HOA dues$0-
Clearing $650 of monthly debt would raise the price this budget supports by roughly $87,283.
Confirm it with a pre-approval- Comfortable price
- $297,48036% of gross income on all debts
- Underwriting ceiling
- $371,89443% back-end ratio
- Loan amount
- $272,480$25,000 down (8.4% of the price)
- Front-end ratio
- 27.8%Housing only; 28% is the classic guideline
- Back-end ratio
- 36%Housing plus your other debts
- Mortgage insurance
- $102/moUnder 20% down; drops at 78% loan-to-value
- Closing costs, estimated
- $7,437About 2.5% of the price
- Cash to close
- $32,437Down payment plus closing costs
Your debt-to-income ratios
At the comfortable price, measured against the 28%, 36% and 43% lines lenders use.
Within the 28% guideline
Within the 36% comfort line
Within the 43% limit
How the rate moves your price
The comfortable price at half-point steps around your rate. Your rate is highlighted.
View as a table
| Rate | Price |
|---|---|
| 5.375% | $323,054 |
| 5.875% | $309,847 |
| 6.375% | $297,480 |
| 6.875% | $285,898 |
| 7.375% | $275,049 |
Estimates only. Prices are worked backwards from a 36% and a 43% back-end debt-to-income ratio, including principal, interest, property tax, homeowners insurance, HOA dues and a sample mortgage insurance estimate when you put less than 20% down. Closing costs are estimated at 2.5% of the price.
Estimates only. Results depend on the assumptions you enter and are not a quote, a rate lock or an offer to lend.
How to read the result
This calculator shows both: the ceiling underwriting would allow at a 43% debt-to-income ratio, and a comfortable figure at 36% that leaves room for an actual life.
Two numbers, on purpose
The higher figure is what a lender will approve. The lower one is what most of our clients end up glad they spent.
Debts matter more than income
A $600 car payment reduces your buying power by roughly $90,000 at current rates. Paying off a short-term loan before applying can move the number substantially.
Down payment changes the ceiling twice
It reduces the loan amount and it can remove mortgage insurance, which frees up monthly room for a larger loan.
About this calculator
Rarely. In practice the clients who stay comfortable buy somewhere between the 36% and 43% figures, usually closer to the lower one, and keep three to six months of reserves.
Yes, and the calculation varies by program. Most programs use either the documented income-driven payment or a percentage of the balance. We will tell you which applies to your file.
Only up to the point where the down payment or reserves become the binding constraint. Above a certain price, cash to close matters more than income.
Magnolia Lending Group
Turn the estimate into a letter
A pre-approval takes four minutes to start and no credit pull to begin.
Free consultation. Sample rates and assistance amounts shown on this site are illustrations, not offers.