Home Affordability Calculator
Find out how much house you can afford based on your income, debts, down payment, and interest rate using the 28/36 rule.
Maximum Home Price
The 28/36 Rule is a widely used guideline for determining how much house you can afford.
Rule 1 — The 28% Rule (Front-End Ratio):
Max Monthly Housing Cost = Gross Monthly Income × 0.28
Housing costs include mortgage principal, interest, taxes, and insurance (PITI).
Rule 2 — The 36% Rule (Back-End Ratio):
Max Total Monthly Debt = Gross Monthly Income × 0.36
Total debt includes housing costs plus car payments, student loans, credit cards, etc.
How max home price is calculated:
- Find the lower of the two allowable monthly housing payments
- Subtract estimated taxes and insurance
- Use the mortgage payment formula to find the max loan amount
- Add your down payment to get max home price
Monthly Payment = Loan × [r(1+r)^n] / [(1+r)^n − 1]
Where r = monthly interest rate, n = number of payments (typically 360 for 30-year mortgage).