Tools
Home Affordability Calculator
An estimated buying range built from your income, your recurring debts, and assumptions you can adjust — including the debt-to-income target, which most calculators hide from you.
Quick Answer
Affordability is generally driven by debt-to-income ratio: a lender compares the proposed total housing payment plus existing monthly debts against gross monthly income. Available cash for down payment and closing costs then caps the purchase price independently of the payment. Because taxes, insurance, and association dues sit inside the ratio, two homes at the same price can support very different approvals.
Income and debts
Financing assumptions
Estimated buying range
$790,773
An estimate of the purchase price supported by the income, debts, and assumptions entered. This is not an approval or a qualification decision.
Estimated payment breakdown
- Principal & interest
- $4,239.74
- Property taxes
- $724.87
- Homeowners insurance
- $150.00
- HOA
- $0.00
- Mortgage insurance
- $335.39
- Estimated housing payment
- $5,450.00
Estimated loan amount
$670,773
Cash down payment
$120,000
Estimated DTI
43.0%
Monthly debts entered
$1,000
How the budget was derived
- Monthly gross income
- $15,000.00
- Maximum total monthly debt at 43%
- $6,450.00
- Less existing monthly debt
- - $1,000.00
- Housing budget used
- $5,450.00
Want to Know What You Could Actually Qualify For?
This estimate is a starting point. Income calculation, debts, assets, loan program, property expenses, and underwriting can change your actual buying power.
Prefer to talk? Call Jonathan at 210-993-5023
Sensitivity: what moves the range
Each row re-runs the same math with one assumption changed. Everything else stays as entered.
| Scenario | Estimated price | Loan amount | Housing payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rate -1.00% (5.50%) | $851,547 | $731,547 | $5,450 |
| Rate -0.50% (6.00%) | $820,200 | $700,200 | $5,450 |
| Rate as entered (6.50%) | $790,773 | $670,773 | $5,450 |
| Rate +0.50% (7.00%) | $763,147 | $643,147 | $5,450 |
| Rate +1.00% (7.50%) | $737,210 | $617,210 | $5,450 |
| Down payment $60,000 | $737,881 | $677,881 | $5,450 |
| Down payment $180,000 | $889,514 | $709,514 | $5,450 |
| Down payment $240,000 | $941,915 | $701,915 | $5,450 |
| DTI assumption 36% | $655,067 | $535,067 | $4,400 |
| DTI assumption 43% | $790,773 | $670,773 | $5,450 |
| DTI assumption 50% | $926,478 | $806,478 | $6,500 |
Assumptions used
- Taxes scale with the estimated purchase price, so the calculator solves for price iteratively rather than in one pass.
- Insurance and HOA are treated as fixed dollar amounts you entered.
- Mortgage insurance is modeled only when the down payment is below 20% of the solved price.
- The full down payment you entered is assumed to be available and does not include closing costs or reserves.
- Example values are pre-filled for demonstration. They are not current market rates.
Results are estimates for educational purposes only and are based on the information and assumptions entered. They are not a loan approval, commitment to lend, or rate quote. Actual loan terms, payments, eligibility, taxes, insurance, and other costs may differ.
This is an estimated affordability range, not a qualification. Lender qualification may differ based on how income is calculated, credit, assets and reserves, debts, loan program, property type, taxes, insurance, and underwriting.
Cascada Mortgage Advisors, Inc. DBA HomeFlow (NMLS #2470941, CA DRE #02206556) is a licensed mortgage broker, not a direct lender. Any interest rate you enter is your own assumption, not a HomeFlow rate.
What this calculator does
It converts annual gross income into a monthly figure, applies your chosen debt-to-income target to find a total monthly debt ceiling, subtracts your existing monthly obligations, and solves for the purchase price whose full housing payment fits the remainder.
How the calculation works
Monthly gross income = annual income ÷ 12. Maximum total monthly debt = monthly gross income × your DTI target. Maximum housing expense = that ceiling minus existing monthly debt payments. Because property taxes and mortgage insurance both scale with the purchase price, the price cannot be solved in a single step — the calculator iterates, testing prices until the resulting full payment lands on the housing budget.
- Property taxes are computed as a percentage of the solved price, not a flat number.
- Mortgage insurance is modeled only when the down payment falls below 20% of the solved price.
- Insurance and HOA are treated as fixed dollar amounts you enter.
What the result means
The output is an estimated buying range, not a qualification. It answers a narrow arithmetic question: at these assumptions, what price produces a housing payment that fits this budget? The sensitivity table shows how much that range moves when the rate, the down payment, or the DTI target changes — often by more than buyers expect.
Important limitations
Lender qualification may differ based on how income is calculated, credit history and score, assets and reserves, debts that do or do not count, the loan program, property type, actual taxes and insurance, and underwriting decisions. Self-employed and commission income in particular are often calculated very differently from gross revenue or gross pay. The down payment entered is assumed to be available in full and excludes closing costs and reserves.