Buyers ask "can I afford this one?" in the kitchen, not at the office. QualRate's price check gives you the answer on your phone, using the same ratios an underwriter uses, so you can spend the showing on homes that work.
Qualify a buyer at the showing
Get four numbers from the buyer
You need gross monthly income (before taxes), total monthly debt payments from the credit report (car, card minimums, student loans), a credit score range and the cash they have saved. If they're a veteran, check the veteran box. If the home is in a USDA-eligible rural area, check that box too.
Enter the price and read the result
The price check builds the full payment for each program: principal, interest, taxes, insurance, mortgage insurance and HOA. Then it checks that payment against each program's limits. FHA allows 46.9% of gross income for housing and 56.9% for housing plus debts with automated approval. Conventional allows 50% total. Each program shows as qualifying or short, with the income and cash it needs.
A worked example at a $285,000 listing
Your buyer earns $5,400 a month, pays $350 a month on a car, has a score around 600 and $2,500 saved. The house in Broward is listed at $285,000.
On FHA at 5.75% with 3.5% down, the full payment is $2,267.74: $1,633.06 principal and interest, $126.05 mortgage insurance, $225.62 taxes and $283 insurance. The buyer's ratios are 42.0% for housing and 48.5% total, both inside FHA's limits. Income needed is $4,835.26 a month, and the buyer has $5,400.
Cash is the only gap. The 3.5% down payment is $9,975 and the buyer has $2,500. FHA 100% financing covers the full down payment, and a seller credit of up to $17,100 (6%) can cover closing costs.
Text the summary to your buyer
Tap the summary button and paste the line into a text:
"$285,000 in Broward: FHA works. About $2,268/mo at 5.75%, buyer at 42.0% housing / 48.5% total. $0 down with FHA 100% financing."
The buyer gets a clear answer while the house is fresh in their mind, and you have a record of the numbers you ran.
When the numbers come up short
The price check names what's short, so you know which fix to bring up.
- Income short: a co-signer is the first fix. A parent or grandparent on Social Security or SSI can co-sign, and their non-taxable income is grossed up 15% on FHA. They don't go on the title and don't move in. Run it in the co-signer calculator.
- Debts too high: the main affordability calculator ranks which debt to pay off first by house gained per $1,000.
- Cash short: FHA 100% financing removes the down payment, and seller credits and gifts cover closing costs. The cash to close calculator shows the figure.
Send the buyer for a full pre-approval
A price check is the math. A pre-approval is the same math on verified income, assets and credit, run through automated underwriting, and it's what a listing agent wants with an offer.
AAA Capital Funding has been a Florida mortgage broker since 1997 and lends statewide. We shop multiple wholesale lenders for each buyer, so a buyer who doesn't fit one lender's box gets placed with another. We do FHA from a 500 score, VA, USDA and Conventional, along with co-signer approvals, FHA 100% financing with down payment assistance, and DSCR loans for your investor clients. AAA also does refinances, so past clients have somewhere to go when their numbers change.
When a buyer is ready, pass along 888-601-8344, or call AAA Capital Funding yourself and we'll set up a time to go through the buyer's numbers together.