Calculator · a ceiling, not a goal
What will underwriting actually allow?
This works backwards from the debt-to-income limit: the payment your income supports, minus what you already owe, minus taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance — and only then the loan amount and price that fit inside it.
The answer is a limit, not a recommendation. It is the largest number a conventional automated underwriting decision is likely to allow at a 46.99% debt-to-income ratio. Most people who stay comfortable buy well under it. Treating the ceiling as the target is how a good loan becomes a tight one.
Debts means the minimum payments you already owe — cards, car, student loans, personal loans. Not rent, and not the new mortgage.
Highest purchase price that fits
$574,000
A ceiling, not a target
- Largest total monthly payment
- $4,199
- Loan amount that supports
- $524,000
- Principal & interest
- $3,309
- Taxes, insurance, HOA and mortgage insurance
- $890
- Mortgage insurance included above
- $240
- Loan-to-value at that price
- 91.3%
- Debt-to-income limit applied
- 47.0%
Assumes a conventional loan at a 46.99% debt-to-income ceiling, with mortgage insurance estimated at 0.55% of the loan per year whenever the loan exceeds 80% of the price. Your real limit moves with credit score, reserves, property type and program — some files stretch higher, some do not reach this. Estimates only, not a quote, an offer of credit, or a determination of eligibility.
What moves this number most
Existing debt
Every dollar of monthly obligation is a dollar off the mortgage payment you qualify for — and roughly $150 of purchase price at current rates. Paying off a car loan can move the ceiling more than saving another $10,000.
Down payment
Cash down does two things at once: it lifts the price by its own amount, and above 20% it removes mortgage insurance from the payment, which frees room for more loan.
Property taxes
The tax line varies more by county than almost anything else in the payment. A high-tax county can cost you six figures of purchasing power against a low-tax one at identical income.
The 46.99% ceiling
That is the conventional automated-underwriting limit this tool applies. Some files are approved above it when credit, reserves, or loan-to-value are strong. That is a conversation, not a calculator setting.
About the starting rate. The rate control arrives pre-filled so the tool has something to calculate with. That number is a placeholder — not a quote, not a rate we have offered you, and not an offer of credit. Replace it with the rate you have actually been quoted.
For reference, the 30-year fixed average in the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, retrieved from FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) (series MORTGAGE30US) was 6.58% for the week ending July 23, 2026, retrieved July 29, 2026. That is a national average across lenders, so no individual borrower was offered it, and it is a note rate rather than an APR — the survey does not publish APRs, and your APR will be higher than any note rate once costs are included. Your own rate depends on your credit profile, loan amount, loan-to-value, occupancy, property type, lock period and program. See the 52-week context.
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Here’s your estimated payment — want Jeff to check if it’s actually the right structure?
A calculator can tell you what a payment costs. It cannot tell you whether the term, the down payment, or the loan type is the right one for how long you plan to hold it. That part is a conversation, and it is usually a short one.
Jeff Shin · NMLS #1041652 · Barrett Financial Group, L.L.C. NMLS #181106