The mortgage home affordability calculator helps you determine your maximum affordable home price based on monthly income, debts, interest rates and the length of your loan.

• Enter ballpark values by clicking on and dragging the diamond-shaped sliders left or right. Enter exact numbers by clicking on the number in the box on the right and type your number (no commas).
• Click on tabs for details and for more options.

The Purchase Price Chart Tab allows you to enter the basic information used to calculate how much home you can afford.

Monthly Income

Monthly Income should include all income that you wish to be considered for mortgage qualification. Income may include: wages, salary, commission, bonuses, overtime, interest, dividends, trust funds, child support, alimony, pension, disability, rental income, public assistance, social security, retirement, etc.

Other Debt

Other debt includes all monthly installment debt including student loans, auto loans, 401(K) loans, all credit card/revolving debt, alimony, child support and any other debt with 10 or more payments remaining. Do not include rent, utility payments or the anticipated payments for a home you may purchase or the payments on your current home if it will be sold to purchase a new one.

Interest Rate

Enter the interest rate you think you might be able to get for your mortgage loan. The rate you enter should be based on prevailing market rates.

Loan Term 

Click on the drop down menu and select the loan term you'd like to get.

Chart 

The Purchase Price value above the chart interactively reflects the changes you make with the sliders, the number fields and the drop down menu. The line chart shows you how much house you can afford based on the down payment you specify by dragging the diamond-shaped slider at the bottom of the chart. To leave the line at a specific value, slide your cursor straight down and out of the chart area.

The Purchase Price Table shows a tabular view of the chart in the Purchase Price Chart Tab, including down payment, closing costs, loan amount and purchase price. The values on the left above the table are values specified in other tabs. The values on the right above the table are calculations of your minimum and maximum total monthly payments (PITI = principal, interest, taxes, insurance).

Each of the 25 rows shows the values for that percentage of down payment

The Other Loan Factors Tab allows you to enter your own values for closing costs and other expenses and displays

Estimated Closing Costs

These costs include points you pay to buy down your loan, as well as fees for title searches, attorneys, brokers and other miscellaneous fees you have to pay at closing.

Front-end Ratio

This is the percentage of your earnings that a lender will allow you to use for your mortgage payments.

Back-end Ratio

This is the maximum percentage of your earnings that a lender will allow you to use to repay all your debts, including your mortgage payments.

Hazard Insurance

Commonly known as home owners insurance, this is the percentage of the sales price you will pay for insurance to cover your home.

Property Taxes

These are the payment that go to local, state and other governments to cover services such as water, sewage, garbage pickup, public schools, public construction, etc. The value you enter here is a percentage of the sales price of your home.

HOA Fee

The Home Owner's Association fee is a monthly fee some home owners pay for communal property upkeep. Condo owners have to pay for grounds and exterior upkeep. Some subdivisions have pools and club houses that require such payments. Not all home owners pay HOA fees.

Mortgage Insurance Table

If you pay less than 20% down on the purchase price of your home, you have to pay mortgage insurance. This table shows you the percentage of the financed amount you will have to pay annually in mortgage insurance. The less you put down, the more mortgage insurance you have to pay.

The left-hand column shows 4 rows of LTV (loan-to-value) percentages. If you put down 5%, you have a 95% LTV. The top row shows 4 columns representing typical loan terms.

If you purchase a home for $150,000 and put 10% down on a 30 year Fixed Rate Loan, you would be financing 90% of the purchase price ($135,000). In order to calculate the Private Mortgage Insurance, you would calculate with the following formula:

• financed amount X mortgage insurance factor = monthly mortgage insurance


• $135,000 x 0.0079 = $1,066.50


• $1,066.50 ÷ 12 months = $88.88


• Your monthly mortgage insurance would be $88.88. Add this amount to your monthly mortgage payment.