Home Affordability Calculator
How much house can you realistically afford? This calculator applies the lender’s classic 28/36 rule to your income, existing debts, and down payment to estimate a sensible home price — not the maximum a bank might approve, but a number that keeps your budget healthy.
How this calculator works
The 28/36 rule sets two limits on monthly spending:
- Front-end (28%): total housing costs should stay under 28% of gross monthly income.
- Back-end (36%): all debt payments combined — housing plus car, student, and card payments — should stay under 36%.
We take the lower of the two limits as your maximum housing payment, reserve about 20% of it for property taxes and insurance, and reverse-amortize the remaining principal-and-interest budget into a maximum loan amount. Adding your down payment gives the estimated affordable price.
Why this is conservative on purpose
A lender may approve you for more. The 28/36 rule aims for a payment you can sustain through emergencies and rate changes — not the absolute ceiling. Treat the result as a healthy target, then adjust for your own savings cushion and goals.
Learn more
- How Much House Can You Really Afford? — A plain-English walkthrough of the 28/36 rule, the costs lenders overlook, and how to set a home budget you can actually live with.
- Mortgage Basics: What Your Monthly Payment Really Includes — Principal, interest, taxes, insurance, PMI — a clear breakdown of every piece of a mortgage payment and how amortization shifts over the life of the loan.
- 15- vs 30-Year Mortgage: Which Term Should You Choose? — A shorter term saves a fortune in interest; a longer one buys flexibility. How the two compare, who each suits, and the strategy that captures both.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this the most a bank will lend me?
- No — it's a sustainable target based on the 28/36 guideline. Lenders sometimes approve higher debt-to-income ratios, but borrowing the maximum leaves little room for the unexpected.
- Why do my monthly debts lower the price so much?
- The back-end limit caps all debt at 36% of income. Every dollar of existing debt payment directly reduces what's left for a mortgage, which compounds into a much larger change in affordable price.
- Does a bigger down payment help?
- Yes, two ways: it adds directly to the price you can afford, and a down payment of 20%+ avoids private mortgage insurance, freeing up more of your monthly budget.