"How much mortgage can I qualify for" and "how much house can I afford" are related but distinct questions. Mortgage qualification is about the LOAN amount a lender will approve — which depends on your DTI ratios and your down payment shifts the home PRICE that loan supports, but qualification itself is fundamentally about the loan, not the sale price.
This page frames the calculation from the loan side deliberately: enter your numbers above and the result includes your maximum qualifying loan amount directly, alongside the home price it supports at your chosen down payment.
Loan amount vs home price — why the distinction matters
Two buyers with identical income, debt, and rate can qualify for the exact same loan amount while affording very different home prices, purely because of down payment size. A buyer with $100,000 to put down affords a home $100,000 more expensive than a buyer with nothing down, for the identical qualifying loan. Lenders qualify the loan; the market determines what price that loan, plus your cash, actually buys.
This distinction matters most when comparing offers or lender letters: a pre-qualification for a "$400,000 loan" and a pre-qualification for a "$400,000 home" are very different documents, and conflating them is a common source of confusion during house hunting. Always confirm which one you're looking at.
This is a self-estimate, not a pre-approval — here is the difference
A real pre-approval involves a lender verifying your income (pay stubs, W-2s, tax returns), assets (bank statements), credit (a hard pull, not just a self-reported score), and employment — then applying their specific underwriting guidelines, which vary by lender and loan program beyond the general DTI caps used here. This calculator estimates your qualifying loan amount using only the inputs you provide and standard DTI caps; it cannot verify anything and does not represent an offer or commitment from any lender.
Use this tool to understand your realistic range BEFORE you start the pre-approval process — so you walk into that conversation with a grounded expectation rather than guessing, and so you can ask informed questions if a lender's actual number differs meaningfully from this estimate (which can happen due to credit-score-based rate differences, specific loan program rules, or lender overlays not modeled here).
Frequently asked questions
How much mortgage can I qualify for based on my income?
Your qualifying loan amount is the maximum principal a lender would approve after applying both the front-end (28%) and back-end (36%) DTI caps to your income and debts, at your specific rate and term. Enter your real numbers above for your specific estimate.
Is my qualifying loan amount the same as my max home price?
No — your max home price equals your qualifying loan amount plus your down payment. Two buyers can qualify for the identical loan amount but afford very different home prices depending on how much cash they're putting down.
What income do I need to qualify for a $500,000 mortgage?
Roughly $135,000–$150,000 in gross annual income at standard DTI caps, typical debt, and current rates — enough for the monthly payment on a $500,000 LOAN (not home price) to clear both the 28% front-end and 36% back-end caps. See the Income to Afford a House calculator for this solved directly.
Why did a lender pre-qualify me for less than this calculator shows?
Common reasons: your actual credit score resulted in a higher rate than assumed here, the specific loan program has stricter overlays than the general DTI caps, some of your income wasn't counted (common with bonus, self-employment, or recent-job income), or the lender is applying a more conservative back-end cap than the standard 36%. Ask the lender specifically which factor drove the difference.
Worked examples
Worked example 1
Loan amount vs home price, side by side
$100,000 income, $500/mo other debts, $40,000 down, 6.5% rate.
Max home price
$320,673
Binding constraint
front
PMI
$140/mo
Qualifying loan amount: $280,673. Add the $40,000 down payment for the $320,673 home price this loan supports.
What affects the result
Down payment size
Two buyers can qualify for the identical loan while affording very different home prices, purely based on down payment.
This is a self-estimate, not a lender pre-approval
Actual pre-approval verifies income, assets, and credit, and applies lender-specific overlays not modeled here.
More questions answered
Why did my lender's pre-qualification differ from this calculator?
Likely because your actual credit score set a different rate than assumed here, or the lender applied a stricter DTI cap or program-specific overlay. This tool estimates using standard DTI caps and the inputs you provide — always confirm with an actual pre-approval before making decisions.
Model assumptions & disclosures
Not a pre-approval. This calculator estimates your maximum home price using standard debt-to-income (DTI) caps against the income, debts, rate, and down payment you enter. It does not verify income, assets, credit, or employment, and it is not an offer or commitment from any lender. Actual mortgage pre-approval requires full lender verification and may differ from this estimate.
DTI caps are lender-dependent. The 28/36 (conventional) and 31/43 (FHA) caps used as defaults are common industry guidelines, not universal rules. Individual lenders, loan programs, and automated underwriting systems can approve — or require — different ratios based on credit score, cash reserves, loan-to-value, and other compensating factors not modeled here.
Rate, tax, insurance, and PMI are your estimates, not live data. This calculator never fetches a current mortgage rate, your actual local property tax rate, or a real insurance quote. Defaults are reasonable national approximations — enter your own numbers, or figures a lender or insurer has actually quoted you, for an accurate result.
Credit score is not modeled. Your interest rate — which directly drives your monthly payment and therefore your DTI — depends on your credit score and the specific loan program. This calculator assumes whatever rate you enter; it does not estimate what rate you would actually qualify for.
Not financial or legal advice. This calculator provides illustrative estimates based on your inputs. It does not account for your complete financial picture, local market conditions, or individual circumstances. Consult a qualified mortgage lender, financial advisor, or housing counselor before making a home-purchase decision.