Filling in your numbers
Start with your county. It sets the property tax estimate and the FHA and conforming loan limits that cap each program. Pick the property type next. If it's a duplex, triplex or fourplex, enter the rent you expect from each unit you won't live in, because lenders count 75% of that rent as income.
Enter your gross monthly income, meaning pay before taxes. Then list your debts the way they show on a credit report: car payments, credit card minimums, student loans and anything else with a monthly payment. Add the balances too. The balances drive two things: how student loans get counted, and which debt is worth paying off first.
Check the veteran box to add VA. Check the rural box to add USDA. Add a co-signer if a parent or grandparent can help, and mark whether their income is taxable or comes from Social Security or SSI. The rate opens at 5.75% on a 30-year fixed, and you can change it.
Whatever you enter here carries into every other QualRate calculator, so you won't type it twice.
How the calculator finds your price
Lenders don't start from a price. They start from your income and work backward.
The two ratios
Every program caps two numbers. The housing ratio (also called front-end DTI, for debt-to-income) is the full house payment divided by gross monthly income. The total ratio (back-end DTI) adds your other monthly debts to that payment.
| Program | Housing ratio | Total ratio | Down payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| FHA | 46.9% | 56.9% | 3.5% from 580, or $0 with FHA 100% financing |
| Conventional | none set | 50% | 3% on a single-family home |
| VA | none set | 41% guideline, residual income decides | $0 |
| USDA | 29% | 41% | $0 |
The full payment is PITI plus extras: principal, interest, property taxes, homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance and any HOA dues. The calculator solves for the price where that payment hits whichever ratio runs out first, then checks the result against the county loan limit and the cash you have.
What's limiting your number
The result names the wall you hit. A total-ratio limit means your debts are the problem, and paying one off helps. When the housing ratio is the limit, income is what's short and a co-signer is the fix. And when cash is what stops you, FHA 100% financing covers the down payment.
A $5,500-a-month buyer in Broward
A buyer earns $5,500 a month with a 640 score and $3,000 saved. Debts: a $480 car payment ($14,000 owed), a $95 card minimum ($1,900 owed) and a $150 student loan payment ($30,000 owed). That's $725 a month.
FHA's housing cap is $2,579.50 (46.9%). The total cap is $3,129.50 (56.9%), and after $725 in debts it leaves $2,404.50 for the house. The total ratio is the limit. At 5.75% that payment supports an FHA price of about $304,600. It breaks down to $1,745.59 principal and interest, $134.74 mortgage insurance, $241.17 taxes and $283 insurance.
The 3.5% down payment is $10,662, more than the $3,000 saved. FHA 100% financing covers it, so the price holds.
Which debt to pay first
The calculator ranks debts by house gained per $1,000 paid off. The card frees $50 a month per $1,000, worth about $7,180 of price. The car frees $34.29 per $1,000 (about $4,920). The student loan frees $5 per $1,000 (about $720). Paying off the $1,900 card raises the FHA price to about $318,300.
The co-signer boost
Add a mother on $1,400 a month of SSI. FHA grosses non-taxable income up 15%, so she counts as $1,610. The price rises to about $436,200, a gain of roughly $131,500.
What to do with your number
Use the highest program price as your shopping ceiling, then open the price check when a specific house comes up. If debts are the limit, the DTI calculator shows how much each payoff moves you. If cash is short, run the cash to close calculator with seller credits and gifts.
When you're ready to turn this number into a real pre-approval, call AAA Capital Funding at 888-601-8344. We'll run the same math on your actual documents and shop it across multiple wholesale lenders.