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Calculator Answers

Home Affordability Calculator

Blake Boege
Written by Blake Boege · Founder, Calculator Answers

A home affordability calculator is a financial planning utility that estimates the maximum home purchase price and mortgage amount a buyer can afford. The calculator analyzes the buyer's annual household income, cash available for a down payment and closing costs, monthly debt obligations, and expected mortgage interest rate. It applies standard lending guidelines, such as the front-end and back-end debt-to-income limits, to project realistic home price ranges, helping buyers set budgets before starting a home search.

Enter income, monthly debts, down payment, interest rate, term, property tax, insurance, and HOA. The calculator returns the max home price you can afford at your chosen DTI target, with a PITI+HOA breakdown.

See also: Auto Affordability Calculator, Take-Home Pay Calculator, and Home Equity Loan Calculator.

Quick Answer

Find out how much house you can afford. Enter your income, down payment, monthly debts, and interest rate to estimate your home buying budget.

$

e.g. 90000

$

Cars, cards, student loans, etc. · e.g. 400

$

e.g. 40000

%

e.g. 6.75

years

e.g. 30

%

Conservative ≤36, conventional ≤43. · e.g. 36

%

e.g. 1.1

$/mo

e.g. 125

$/mo

e.g. 0

Estimate only. PMI, lender overlays, credit profile, and underwriting rules can change the actual max. Cross-check with a lender pre-approval.

Home affordability

Max home price

$328,860.61

PITI $2,300.00 ≈ 30.7% of gross income

Monthly income$7,500.00
Monthly debts$400.00
Allowed housing payment$2,300.00
Max home price$328,860.61
Loan amount$288,860.61
Down payment %12.2%
Principal + interest$1,873.54
Monthly tax$301.46
Insurance + HOA$125.00
Total monthly (PITI+HOA)$2,300.00

Estimate. Does not include PMI (which applies when down < 20% on conventional loans), variable insurance, or lender overlays. For an actual approval, get pre-approved with a lender.

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Examples

$90k income, $400 debts, $40k down, 6.75%, 36% DTI

max ≈ $325k

$120k income, $300 debts, $60k down, 6.5%, 33% DTI

max ≈ $460k

$70k income, $700 debts, $20k down, 7%, 36% DTI

max ≈ $210k

How it works

The calculator works backwards from your monthly budget. Gross income times the DTI target gives the total housing budget; subtract monthly debts to get the allowed PITI. Then it binary-searches for the home price where PITI plus taxes, insurance, and HOA fits inside that budget.

Housing budget · gross monthly income × DTI − debts

PITI · P&I + monthly tax + insurance + HOA

Solves max price by finding the largest price whose PITI+HOA fits the budget.

Related money calculators

Note. Estimate only. Lender pre-approval is the authoritative answer. This calculator does not include PMI, lender overlays, or condo/co-op fees beyond HOA. Cross-check before making offers.

Related Calculators

More tools from Money

Auto Affordability CalculatorEstimate the max vehicle price you can afford from monthly budget, down payment, trade-in, APR, term, sales tax, and fees.Take-Home Pay CalculatorEstimate net pay from gross, using withholding percentages you supply plus pre-tax and post-tax deductions. It does not look up rates, and it computes no FICA line.Home Equity Loan CalculatorEstimate your available home equity, the maximum amount you can borrow based on LTV limits, and your estimated monthly payment and interest cost.Mortgage Refinance CalculatorCompare your current mortgage to a refinance. Returns new vs current payment, monthly savings, break-even months, and lifetime interest comparison.

Frequently asked questions

Affordability depends on income, debts, down payment, rate, term, taxes, insurance, and HOA. A common rule of thumb caps total housing (PITI + HOA) at about 28 to 31% of gross income, and total debt payments at 36 to 43%. This calculator uses your chosen DTI target to estimate a max home price.

PITI is the four-part monthly housing cost: Principal, Interest, Taxes, Insurance. Many lenders add HOA dues to that. PITI (or PITI + HOA) is the figure used for DTI affordability calculations, not just the principal and interest portion of the loan.

The mortgage calculator solves for a monthly payment from a given home price. This calculator does the inverse: it solves for the max home price from your income, debts, and DTI target. They are complementary tools.

Conventional loans typically cap back-end DTI at 36 to 43%. FHA can go higher with compensating factors. A conservative target is 28 to 33% (often called the front-end ratio for housing only). Use a target that leaves room for unexpected costs.

PMI applies when the down payment is less than 20% on a conventional loan and is a real cost. This calculator does not estimate PMI to keep the math transparent; if you plan to put less than 20% down, expect roughly 0.3 to 1.5% of the loan amount annually in PMI on top of the estimated payment.

It is a planning estimate. Actual underwriting considers credit score, employment history, asset reserves, property condition, appraisal, and lender overlays. For a real number, get pre-approved with a lender. This calculator helps you set realistic expectations before that conversation.