How much mortgage can I qualify for?

It depends on which of four ceilings binds first: your housing ratio, your total debt ratio, what your deposit supports at the programme loan-to-value, or the programme loan cap. Most calculators apply one rule and hand you a number. Running all four across the main programmes is more useful, because the answer varies substantially between them and so does the reason. A borrower can be limited by debts on one programme and by the loan cap on another with no change to their finances at all.

What debt-to-income ratio do lenders allow?

More than the familiar rule of thumb suggests. Conventional loans commonly approve to 45% through automated underwriting and stretch toward 50% with strong compensating factors. FHA is the most forgiving, with the TOTAL Scorecard reaching 46.9% on housing and 56.9% overall where reserves and credit support it. VA publishes 41% but treats it as a guideline, since its real test is residual income. USDA is the strictest at 29% and 41%. The old 43% qualified-mortgage cap was replaced by a price-based test some years ago and is no longer a hard limit.

What credit score do I need for a mortgage?

The floors are lower than most people assume, though pricing gets much worse near them. Conventional generally starts at 620. FHA takes 580 for a 3.5% deposit, or 500 to 579 if you can put 10% down. VA sets no minimum at all, but lenders impose their own overlays, usually 580 to 620. USDA typically wants 640 for streamlined processing. Above 740 the pricing improves sharply on conventional loans, so the score matters for cost long after it has stopped mattering for approval.

What is the difference between front-end and back-end DTI?

The front-end or housing ratio is the whole housing payment against gross income — principal, interest, taxes, insurance, mortgage insurance and any HOA dues. The back-end or total debt ratio adds every other monthly obligation showing on your credit report. Conventional loans no longer apply a separate front-end test, so only the total matters. FHA and USDA test both, and for USDA in particular the housing ratio frequently bites before the total does, which surprises borrowers with very little other debt.

What debts count toward the ratio?

Anything with a monthly payment on your credit report: car loans, student loans, credit card minimums, personal loans, child support and alimony. Utilities, groceries, phone bills, insurance premiums and retirement contributions do not count. The important detail is that lenders use the minimum payment shown rather than what you actually pay, so a $2,000 card balance with a $60 minimum hurts your ratio more than a $30,000 car loan with a $50 payment would. That quirk is what makes targeted paydowns so effective.

How much deposit do I need?

Less than the traditional twenty percent, though that remains the level at which conventional mortgage insurance disappears. Conventional programmes go to 3% for some first-time buyers and 5% more generally. FHA takes 3.5% with a score of 580 or above, rising to 10% below that. VA and USDA lend the full purchase price with nothing down for eligible borrowers. The trade is that a smaller deposit means mortgage insurance, and on FHA with a low deposit that insurance now lasts the life of the loan rather than falling away.

What is the conforming loan limit for 2026?

The baseline is $832,750 for a one-unit property, an increase of $26,250 on 2025, reflecting the 3.26% rise in average house prices between the third quarters of 2024 and 2025. In designated high-cost counties it rises to $1,249,125, which is 150% of the baseline. FHA sets its own floor at 65% of the conforming limit, so $541,288, and its ceiling at 150%, matching the conventional high-cost figure. Above the conforming limit you are into jumbo lending, where scores of 700 or more and six to twelve months of reserves are usual.

Does the 28/36 rule still apply?

As guidance about comfort, yes. As a description of what lenders approve, no — it has been considerably more conservative than actual underwriting for years. Every major programme will now go well past 36% on the total ratio, and FHA will approve past 50%. The gap matters because a borrower using 28/36 will believe they qualify for far less than they do, and a borrower using the programme maximum may commit to a payment that is technically approvable and practically uncomfortable. Both numbers are worth knowing for different reasons.

Why do I qualify for less than I expected?

Usually taxes and insurance. They sit inside the housing ratio exactly as the loan payment does, and on a high-tax property they can account for a quarter of the whole payment — so a calculator that ignores them will overstate what you can buy by a wide margin. HOA dues do the same and catch condominium buyers in particular. After that the usual culprits are a debt you had forgotten was reporting, income that cannot be documented to a lender standard, and mortgage insurance on a low deposit.

What is the difference between pre-qualification and pre-approval?

A pre-qualification is a conversation. You state your income and debts, the lender runs the arithmetic, and you get a figure that carries no verification and very little weight with a seller. A pre-approval involves documents — pay slips, tax returns, bank statements — and a credit pull, and produces a letter a seller will take seriously. In a competitive market the difference is whether your offer is considered at all. This page is closer to the first: useful for orientation, and not a substitute for the second.

Mortgage Qualification Calculator

Affordability asks what you are comfortable paying. Qualification asks what a lender will actually sign, and those are different questions with different answers — usually with qualification giving the larger number, which is worth knowing before you mistake it for permission. Four ceilings apply t...

YOUR FILE

GROSS INCOME, MONTHLY ($)

DEBT PAYMENTS, MONTHLY ($)

DEPOSIT AVAILABLE ($)

CREDIT SCORE

RATE (%)

TERM (YRS)

TAX + INS ($/MO)

MOST BUYING POWER — FHA

$601,288

A loan of $541,288 on top of your $60,000 deposit, with a payment of $4,189.40 including taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance. What is holding it back is the loan limit, not the other three.

MONTHLY PAYMENT

$4,189.40

TOTAL DEBT RATIO

54.9%

DEPOSIT IS

10.0%

You are against the programme cap rather than your own finances. Your income and deposit would support more, but this programme will not write a loan above $541,288. A conventional loan reaches $832,750, and beyond that you are into jumbo territory, where scores of 700 or more and larger reserves are usual.

Program	Max price	Payment	Ratio	What binds
Conventional	$472,625	$3,300.00	45.0%	total debt ratio
FHA	$601,288	$4,189.40	54.9%	loan limit
VA	$442,870	$2,940.00	41.0%	total debt ratio
USDA	$376,075	$2,610.00	37.3%	housing ratio

Conventional — 620 is the usual floor; pricing improves sharply above 740

Automated underwriting commonly approves to 45% and will stretch toward 50% with reserves, a high score or a large deposit. There is no separate front-end test. PMI falls away at 80% loan-to-value, unlike FHA.

FHA — 580 for 3.5% down; 500 to 579 requires 10% down

The most forgiving on capacity. The handbook pairs 31% with 43%, but the TOTAL Scorecard approves up to 46.9% and 56.9% where the file supports it. The cost is mortgage insurance that lasts the life of the loan on a low deposit.

VA — no VA minimum; lenders typically impose 580 to 620

Nothing down and no monthly mortgage insurance. The published 41% is a guideline rather than a cap — the real test is residual income, the money left after every obligation, which this page does not model. A strong residual can carry a DTI that would end a conventional file.

USDA — 640 is the usual threshold for streamlined processing

Nothing down, but the strictest ratios of the four and confined to eligible rural and semi-rural areas with household income caps. Worth checking the property map before anything else.

This is an estimate, not a pre-approval. Real underwriting weighs reserves, employment history, the source of your deposit, payment shock and the property itself, and every lender adds its own overlays on top of the programme rules. Mortgage insurance rates here are typical rather than quoted. VA turns on residual income, which this page does not model, and USDA requires an eligible address. Only a lender can tell you what you actually qualify for.

THE PROGRAMS

Four ceilings apply to every loan, and only the lowest one matters. Your housing ratio, your total debt ratio, what your deposit supports at the programme loan-to-value, and the programme cap itself. Knowing which one binds tells you what to fix — there is no point raising a deposit when the total debt ratio is what is stopping you.

Live calculation · updates as you type

Created with❤️byeaglecalculator.com

HOW TO USE

1
Use gross income, before tax, and include only income you can document — two years of history for self-employment, bonus or commission, since a lender will not count what it cannot verify.
2
For debts, use the minimum monthly payments showing on your credit report rather than what you actually pay. Lenders read the minimum, which is why a small card with a large minimum hurts more than a big loan with a small one.
3
Add property taxes, insurance and any HOA dues. These sit inside the housing ratio exactly as the loan payment does, and forgetting them is the commonest reason a calculator overstates what you can buy.
4
Read which constraint binds before anything else. It tells you whether to pay down debt, save more deposit, raise your score or look at a different programme entirely.

THE FOUR PROGRAMS AT A GLANCE

Program	Housing ratio	Total debt ratio	Min deposit	Credit	2026 loan limit
Conventional	no test	45.0%	3.0%	620	$832,750
FHA	46.9%	56.9%	3.5%	580	$541,288
VA	no test	41.0%	0.0%	none set	$832,750
USDA	29.0%	41.0%	0.0%	640	$832,750

The 2026 conforming limit is $832,750, up $26,250 on 2025, rising to $1,249,125 in high-cost counties. FHA sets its floor at 65% of that and its ceiling at 150%. The ratios shown are what automated underwriting will approve with compensating factors — the familiar 28/36 rule is considerably more conservative and is better advice about comfort than about approval.

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Last updated: July 31, 2026 · Limits per FHFA and HUD for 2026 · Estimate only, not a pre-approval.