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House Affordability Calculator

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How to use House Affordability Calculator

What the tool does, how to run it, and what to expect from the result.

How to estimate how much house you can afford

Enter your gross annual income, your down payment, the mortgage rate you expect, and a term. The tool takes 28 percent of your gross monthly income as a target payment, solves the mortgage formula backwards to find the loan that payment supports, then adds your down payment to reach a price.

Treat the result as a ceiling from one rule of thumb, not an approval. The 28 percent goes entirely to principal and interest here, and a real lender expects the same 28 percent to absorb tax and insurance too.

  • Enter gross annual income, before tax, in the Annual income field. It starts at 90000.
  • Enter your cash down payment in the Down payment field. It starts at 40000.
  • Enter the rate you expect to be offered in the Mortgage rate (%) field. It starts at 6.5.
  • Enter the term in the Loan term (years) field. It starts at 30.
  • Read the Target monthly payment, then subtract your own estimate for tax, insurance, and HOA from it and rerun to get a realistic loan amount.
Tips

Getting a better result out of House Affordability Calculator

Specific settings and thresholds, not general advice.

  • The tool sizes your payment at 28% of gross monthly income, the classic front-end ratio, then works backwards through the mortgage formula and adds your down payment. The defaults, 90000 income and 40000 down at 6.5% over 30 years, give a 2100 target payment, a loan of about 332000, and a price of about 372000.
  • That 2100 is treated as pure principal and interest, which makes the answer optimistic. In real underwriting the 28% front-end ratio covers PITI, including property tax and insurance. Carve out 500 a month for those and the borrowable amount falls from about 332000 to about 253000.
  • The 28% rule ignores your other debts entirely. Lenders also apply a back-end ratio, typically capping all debt payments at 36 to 43 percent of gross income, so a car loan and a student loan can hold you well below what this tool shows.
  • Income means gross, before tax. Entering take-home pay understates the answer by 20 to 30 percent.
  • The down payment shifts the price you can reach but not the loan you qualify for. It also drives PMI: under 20 percent down, most lenders add mortgage insurance, which eats into the same 28% budget.
Limits

What House Affordability Calculator does not do

The honest boundary, so you do not lose time finding it yourself.

  • Front-end 28% ratio only. No back-end DTI, no existing debts, no credit score, no reserves.
  • The target payment is treated as principal and interest, with no tax, insurance, PMI, or HOA carve-out.
  • No closing costs, no loan limits, no local price data.
  • Fixed rate and a single term. No ARM, no FHA or VA rules, no first-time buyer programs.
At a glance

Who House Affordability Calculator is for

A quick way to understand who this helps, what it solves, and where it connects next.

Best fit

Shoppers, students, freelancers, and anyone who needs a quick, private calculation.

Ideal for

Fast everyday math without a spreadsheet, app install, or sign-up.

FAQ

Common questions

Short answers for the questions people usually have before trying a utility like this.

Is the house affordability calculator free?

Yes. It is completely free to use, with no signup, no account, and no paywall.

How accurate are the results?

The calculator uses the standard formulas for this kind of math, but real-world results can differ once fees, rounding, rate changes, and provider-specific rules come into play. Treat the output as a planning estimate, not a quote.

Does it stay local?

Yes. The numbers you enter are processed entirely in your browser and never leave your device.

Why is the estimated price higher than what a lender approves?

Two reasons. The tool spends the entire 28% of income on principal and interest, whereas a lender's 28% front-end ratio has to cover property tax, insurance, and any HOA fee as well. It also ignores your other debts, and lenders apply a back-end ratio of 36 to 43 percent across all obligations. Both push the real number down.

Does it account for my car loan and student loan?

No. It only applies the front-end housing ratio. A lender will add every monthly debt payment together and cap the total at a share of gross income, so existing loans directly reduce what you can borrow even though this tool never sees them.

Do I enter gross income or take-home pay?

Gross, before tax and deductions. The 28% rule is defined against gross income, so entering net pay understates your borrowing capacity by roughly the size of your tax bill.

How much does a bigger down payment change what I can afford?

It raises the price by exactly the extra cash, since the loan size is fixed by your income and rate. Doubling the down payment from 40000 to 80000 raises the affordable price by 40000, not by more. Crossing 20 percent down also removes PMI, which frees up part of the monthly budget.

Are my income and savings figures uploaded anywhere?

No. Every input stays in the page's local state and the formula runs in your browser. Nothing about your income, savings, or borrowing capacity is transmitted or stored.

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