Home affordability
How much home can you afford?
Work backward from your income and monthly debts to a realistic price range, using debt-to-income guidelines you can adjust. Taxes, insurance, mortgage insurance, and HOA are all in the math, and the tool names which limit, your income or your debts, is holding the number down. Every result is an illustrative estimate, not a pre-approval.
Find your range
Run your numbers.
Enter your income and monthly debts, then dial in the loan details. The estimate updates as you type. Defaults use statewide Utah averages and illustrative debt-to-income guidelines, change any field to match your situation.
Your finances
Household total before taxes.
Optional. Social Security, disability, some retirement.
Car, student, credit-card minimums, and other loan payments. Not your housing payment.
Illustrative guidelines, not lender approval rules. Lenders vary; this is an estimate, not an approval.
Loan and home
Pre-filled with statewide Utah averages. If you are shopping a specific county or property, adjust these to match.
Assumes a primary residence; second homes and investment properties are taxed differently.
Default rate as of the date shown. Rates change frequently and are not a quote.
About these estimates
Estimates only. This is not a quote, offer, pre-approval, or commitment to lend. Figures are illustrative and depend on the assumptions you choose.
This tool is for general information only. It is not legal, tax, investment, or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation.
Equal Housing Opportunity. Equal Housing Lender. Scott Buehler NMLS #1794818, Guild Mortgage Company NMLS #3274.
Want numbers tailored to you? Let's talk.
Estimated maximum home price
The lower of your two debt-to-income guidelines, with taxes, insurance, PMI, and HOA included.
Estimates only, not a quote, offer, pre-approval, or commitment to lend. Talk to Scott for your actual terms.
Your monthly housing budget is the most a lender would let you put toward the whole house payment. The implied loan is what you would actually borrow at that price: the home price minus your down payment.
This is the full monthly housing cost a lender expects at your max price: P&I (principal and interest, the loan itself) plus property taxes, homeowners insurance, PMI, and any HOA dues, all bundled into one payment. PMI (private mortgage insurance) only appears when your down payment is under 20%. It protects the lender, not you, and it drops off on its own once you have paid the loan down to 80% of the home's value.
Guideline 28%
Guideline 43%
Your debt-to-income ratio (DTI) is the share of your monthly income that goes to debt payments. Front-end counts just the house payment; back-end counts the house plus your other monthly debts like car loans, student loans, and credit cards. Lenders look at both, and the lower of the two guidelines is what sets your limit above.
Pay down debt, gain buying power
Drag to see how reducing your monthly debt payments changes your supportable price.
How to use it
Make the inputs yours.
The defaults use statewide Utah averages and illustrative debt-to-income guidelines so the form is useful the moment it loads. The estimate gets sharper the more you tailor it to your income, your debts, and the loan you expect.
Enter your income
Use gross monthly income before taxes, for the whole household. Add any non-taxable income separately so it can be grossed up the way underwriting does.
List your monthly debts
Add the minimum payments on cars, student loans, credit cards, and other installment debt. Use the minimums, not the balances, since that is what the ratios count.
Pick a comfort level
Conservative, Standard, and Stretch set the two ratio fields, which you can edit. Conservative models what fits comfortably; Stretch shows the upper bound. They are guidelines, not approvals.
Set the loan details
Tap the unit to enter the down payment as a percent or a dollar amount, then adjust the rate, term, taxes, and insurance. At 20 percent down or more the PMI line drops to zero on its own.
Read which limit binds
The tool names whether your income or your debts is the limiting factor, then the debt-paydown slider shows how much price you would unlock by reducing monthly debt.
Ready for a real number?
This is an estimate to set your search range. When you want a pre-approval built around your actual file, let's talk it through.
Get in touchGood to know
Questions about this affordability calculator.
How does this home affordability calculator work?
You enter your gross monthly income, your other monthly debt payments, and the loan details you expect. The calculator works backward from two debt-to-income guidelines, a housing ratio and a total-debt ratio, to estimate the highest home price those guidelines would support. It accounts for principal and interest, property taxes, homeowners insurance, PMI when your down payment is under 20 percent, and HOA dues.
What are the debt-to-income ratios this tool uses?
It uses two illustrative guideline ratios you can edit: a front-end ratio that caps your monthly housing payment as a share of income, and a back-end ratio that caps your total monthly debt as a share of income. The presets are starting points, Conservative, Standard, and Stretch, not lender approval rules. Your supportable price is the lower of what the two ratios allow.
Is this a pre-approval or a guarantee of what I can borrow?
No. This is an illustrative estimate, not a pre-approval, a quote, or a commitment to lend. Lenders weigh your full credit profile, documented income, assets, the property, and program rules. Use the number to set a realistic search range, then get in touch for a real pre-approval.
How are property taxes and insurance estimated?
Taxes and insurance are estimated as an annual percent of the home price, pre-filled with statewide Utah averages from a single shared data file. The tax default assumes a primary residence, where Utah's residential exemption already lowers the effective rate. Adjust the fields for a specific county, a second home, or an investment property.
Why does paying off debt change my price so much?
Your monthly debts are subtracted from the total-debt budget before any housing payment is counted. When debt is the limiting factor, every dollar of monthly debt you remove frees a dollar of housing budget, which can move your supportable price by thousands. The debt-paydown slider shows that effect directly.
Looking for the rest of the suite? Browse all calculators or head back to resources.
Ready to turn a range into a real plan?
This tool sets a realistic target. When you want a pre-approval built around your credit, your income, and the home you are after, let's talk it through together.