Find out if you can comfortably afford a home — not just what the monthly payment is. Get a comfort score, debt-to-income breakdown, amortization schedule, opportunity cost comparison, and rent-vs-buy snapshot, all free.
Home & loan
Monthly costs
Your finances
Comfort score
This home is affordable for you, with a reasonable cushion in most areas.
15 / 20 points across 5 affordability checks
Housing cost vs. income
Housing costs are 37% of gross income — a real stretch above the typical guideline.
Total debt-to-income ratio
All debts including housing are 41% of gross income — near the ceiling most lenders allow.
Cash left after closing
After closing, you'd have about 4.9 months of housing costs left in reserve.
Emergency fund coverage
Your remaining cash covers 82% of the recommended emergency fund.
Income left after bills
About 59% of your income is left after housing and debts for savings and everything else.
Generated from the numbers you entered — not generic advice.
Choosing a $360,000 home instead of $400,000 would move you into the Very Comfortable range.
Increasing your down payment to 20% would eliminate PMI, saving you $225/month until it would have dropped off anyway.
Saving another $3,940 would fully cover your down payment, closing costs, and a 6-month emergency fund with nothing left exposed.
A 15-year loan would save $267,162 in total interest, but raises your monthly principal & interest by $851.
/yr
Housing costs as a share of gross income. Lenders typically like to see this at or under 28%.
Housing plus all other debt payments as a share of gross income. Most lenders cap this around 36–43%.
If your income grows 3%/yr as expected, your back-end ratio would improve to about 35.0% within 5 years (assuming your payment and other debts stay the same).
| Year | Principal paid | Interest paid | PMI paid | Ending balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3,837 | $24,183 | $2,700 | $356,163 |
| 2 | $4,104 | $23,916 | $2,700 | $352,059 |
| 3 | $4,390 | $23,630 | $2,700 | $347,670 |
| 4 | $4,695 | $23,324 | $2,700 | $342,975 |
| 5 | $5,022 | $22,997 | $2,700 | $337,953 |
| 6 | $5,372 | $22,648 | $2,700 | $332,581 |
| 7 | $5,746 | $22,274 | $2,700 | $326,835 |
| 8 | $6,146 | $21,874 | $2,700 | $320,689 |
| 9 | $6,574 | $21,446 | $225 | $314,115 |
| 10 | $7,032 | $20,988 | $0 | $307,084 |
| 11 | $7,521 | $20,498 | $0 | $299,562 |
| 12 | $8,045 | $19,975 | $0 | $291,518 |
| 13 | $8,605 | $19,414 | $0 | $282,913 |
| 14 | $9,204 | $18,815 | $0 | $273,708 |
| 15 | $9,845 | $18,174 | $0 | $263,864 |
| 16 | $10,530 | $17,489 | $0 | $253,333 |
| 17 | $11,264 | $16,756 | $0 | $242,069 |
| 18 | $12,048 | $15,971 | $0 | $230,021 |
| 19 | $12,887 | $15,133 | $0 | $217,135 |
| 20 | $13,784 | $14,235 | $0 | $203,350 |
| 21 | $14,744 | $13,276 | $0 | $188,607 |
| 22 | $15,770 | $12,249 | $0 | $172,836 |
| 23 | $16,869 | $11,151 | $0 | $155,968 |
| 24 | $18,043 | $9,976 | $0 | $137,924 |
| 25 | $19,299 | $8,720 | $0 | $118,625 |
| 26 | $20,643 | $7,376 | $0 | $97,982 |
| 27 | $22,080 | $5,939 | $0 | $75,902 |
| 28 | $23,618 | $4,402 | $0 | $52,284 |
| 29 | $25,262 | $2,757 | $0 | $27,021 |
| 30 | $27,021 | $998 | $0 | $0 |
Comparing $40,000invested in the market against the equity you'd build by buying — home paydown plus appreciation.
Year 10
Invested$78,686
Home equity$257,156
Year 20
Invested$154,787
Home equity$592,565
Year 30
Invested$304,490
Home equity$1,122,717
Illustrative projection based on the assumptions above — not a guarantee. Markets and home values can both go down as well as up.
A rough comparison of what you'd pay owning this home versus renting something equivalent.
Assumes rent grows 3%/yr and the home appreciates 3.5%/yr. Break-even is when cumulative ownership costs, minus equity built, first fall below cumulative rent paid. An estimate, not a guarantee.
Same home and rate — just changing how much you put down (PMI applies under 20%).
5% down
per month
total interest
20% down
per month
total interest
Same loan amount and rate — a shorter term means a higher payment but far less interest.
15-year
per month
total interest
30-year
per month
total interest
The same home can look very different depending on where rates land when you buy.
6% rate
per month
total interest
7% rate
per month
total interest
How costs change if you stretched to a home 50% more expensive.
This home
per month
total interest
Dream home (+50%)
per month
total interest
Beyond your credit score, lenders focus heavily on your debt-to-income ratio, the size of your down payment, and your employment history. A bigger down payment doesn't just lower your payment — it also signals lower risk and can unlock a better rate.
Your front-end ratio measures housing costs against income; your back-end ratio adds in every other debt payment. Most lenders want to see a back-end ratio under 43%, though qualifying doesn't mean it will feel comfortable to live with month to month.
Private mortgage insurance protects the lender (not you) when you put down less than 20%. It's automatically removed once your loan balance drops to 80% of the original home value — or you can request removal earlier if your home has appreciated enough.
Effective property tax rates range from under 0.3% of home value in Hawaii to over 2% in states like New Jersey and Illinois — a difference of thousands of dollars a year on the same priced home. Always check the actual rate for the specific county you're buying in.
Closing costs typically run 2–5% of the purchase price and cover lender fees, title insurance, appraisal, inspection, and prepaid items like taxes and insurance. Ask for a Loan Estimate early so there are no surprises at the closing table.
A common rule of thumb is budgeting 1% of your home's value per year for maintenance and repairs. Skipping this in your budget is one of the most common reasons new homeowners feel financially squeezed within the first year.
Buying at the very top of what you're approved for, skipping the home inspection, underestimating moving and furnishing costs, and draining savings entirely for the down payment are among the most common — and avoidable — first-time buyer mistakes.
Most guidance suggests keeping 3–6 months of total living expenses in reserve — and homeownership makes this more important, not less, since you're now responsible for repairs a landlord would have covered.
Just because a lender approves you for a certain amount doesn't mean you should spend it. Lenders qualify you based on debt limits, not on what leaves room for saving, travel, or unexpected costs — that judgment call is yours to make.
Plain-English articles on real estate, credit, budgeting are in the works in our Learning Center.
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