Before you start house hunting in the U.S.
Estimate a home price range from your income and debts
Enter your gross income, the monthly debts you already pay, your down payment and a rate to test. Then choose two limits: how much of your income housing may take, and how much all debts together may take. The calculator works back to a price.
Calculate for free- No account needed
- No credit check
- No lender contact
Cindrus is a calculation tool, not a financial advisor. We give no personal advice and do not arrange loans.
Estimated price at the limits you chose
The result is a calculation on your figures. It is not a guaranteed saving or an offer.
Loan amount plus your down payment, at the rate and term you entered.
With these debts and limits, no room is left for a housing payment. Lower the debts or raise a limit to see a price.
The loan in this scenario is above $832,750, FHFA's 2026 baseline limit for one-unit homes in most areas. Loans above the local limit are often called jumbo loans and can come with other terms.
Of which principal and interest-
Three scenarios from your inputs
The loan in this scenario is above $832,750, FHFA's 2026 baseline limit for one-unit homes in most areas. Loans above the local limit are often called jumbo loans and can come with other terms.
The loan in this scenario is above $832,750, FHFA's 2026 baseline limit for one-unit homes in most areas. Loans above the local limit are often called jumbo loans and can come with other terms.
The loan in this scenario is above $832,750, FHFA's 2026 baseline limit for one-unit homes in most areas. Loans above the local limit are often called jumbo loans and can come with other terms.
For illustrative purposes only. Not a loan offer or commitment to lend. Cindrus is not a lender, mortgage broker or loan originator, we pass no information to lenders, and no lender pays us.
This range is not a loan offer, a personal recommendation or an assessment of whether you would be approved for a loan.
This calculator does not assess your eligibility for a mortgage or represent a lender's affordability assessment.
Basis: your income, your debts, the limits you picked and the housing costs you typed. The rate and costs you can actually get may differ.
- Monthly income is your yearly income divided by 12.
- The rate is the one you entered and stays the same for the whole term.
- Property tax and insurance grow with the price in the way you entered them.
- Closing costs and cash reserves are not taken out of the down payment.
Your next step.
Take the result with you.
Free. No account.
- Write down the figures you used: you find them under «Understand the number».
- Ask what it costs in total, not only what the payment will be.
- Ask whether the rate is fixed and what can change it.
- Ask for the offer in writing, so you can compare it calmly.
- Ask what is not included in the figure.
Ready to talk to the bank?
Your figures and the right questions, on one page.
- Costs and rate
- Fees and remaining balance
- The assumptions behind the figure
Follow your loan.
Your loan and your calculations, in one place.
- Your calculations saved in one place
- Your financial overview
The account is free.
The calculator is free without an account. Not personal advice.
Your bank conversation
Ask the bank about these six things.
Based on your calculation. Not personal advice.
From your budget to a price, in three steps
Set your own ceiling
Choose the share of gross income you are willing to put toward all debt payments, including the new mortgage. You can also cap the housing payment on its own.
Subtract what the home costs to hold
Property tax, homeowners insurance, HOA dues and mortgage insurance come out first. What remains is the principal and interest the loan can carry.
Turn the payment into a price
At your rate and term, that payment supports a loan amount. Add your down payment and you have the price the scenario points to.
There is no legal DTI limit, and this tool doesn't invent one
Under the ability-to-repay rule (12 CFR 1026.43), a mortgage lender must consider your monthly debt-to-income ratio or your residual income. The rule does not set a specific ratio that lenders have to use. Each lender and loan program decides its own threshold.
What a lender has to look at
The ratio compares your total monthly debt obligations with your total monthly income. Debt obligations include the new mortgage payment, property taxes and insurance the lender requires, HOA fees, other loans, alimony and child support.
Who sets the number
Loan programs publish their own ratio limits, and they differ. We link one published example under Sources rather than repeat its figures as if they applied to you.
What the result is not
A price from this tool is arithmetic on the limit you typed. It is not an approval or a lender's view of your finances.
What decides how much house a monthly budget buys?
Four things move the result most: the ratio you choose, the debts you already carry, the interest rate and the costs of owning the home. A higher property tax bill shrinks the loan as surely as a higher rate does, because both come out of the same monthly payment.
The tool can also apply two limits at once. You can test a housing-only ratio next to a total-debt ratio, and whichever is tighter decides the price. The result shows which one did.
Why is mortgage insurance a separate field?
With a conventional loan and a down payment below 20 percent of the price, a lender may require private mortgage insurance. It is added to the monthly payment, so it takes room away from principal and interest. Enter it as a yearly rate of the loan amount. The calculator adds it only while your down payment is below that share.
Other names for the same question
Mortgage affordability calculator · how much house can I afford · home affordability by income · house budget calculator. All of them ask what price a monthly budget points to.
Built to show the math behind a budget
Your numbers only
Every field starts empty. Nothing is filled in for you, and no rate is assumed.
No lender on the other end
We don't pass your figures to anyone, and nothing you enter here starts an application.
Sources you can open
Each rule on this site links to the regulation or agency page it comes from, with the date we read it.
What we hold ourselves to
- We never sell your data.
- We never hide an assumption behind a result.
- We never show a figure we can't explain.
- We never create false urgency.
- You can download or delete your data at any time.
Questions about affordability
Does this tell me what a lender would lend me?
No. It shows the price that fits the limits you picked. A lender looks at credit, income history, assets and its own program rules, and may count your income or debts differently.
Which limits do I enter?
Any you want to test. Some people try a tight pair and a looser pair to see the spread. Loan programs publish their own limits, and the Sources list links to one example.
What happens to the range if rates go up?
The third scenario repeats the calculation at one percentage point above your rate. A higher rate means more of the same monthly budget goes to interest, so the price that fits gets lower.
Why does a bigger down payment change the price by more than its own amount?
The down payment raises the price one for one, and at 20 percent down or more a conventional loan usually has no PMI to pay. That frees part of the monthly budget for a higher price.
Is there a legal maximum debt-to-income ratio?
Not one fixed number. Federal rules require lenders to consider it, and each loan program sets its own limits.
The calculator costs nothing.
A free Cindrus account gives you an overview of your loans, assets and debt. The plans, and where each feature works today, are on the pricing page.
See pricing →Test a budget before you shop.
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