Estimate How Much Home You Can Afford
Type in your loan, tax, HOA, insurance and PMI assumptions and see which home prices keep the monthly cost inside a 28/36 budget.
What This Calculator Does
Want to know how much house you can afford? This calculator works backward from your gross income. It searches for the price at which the first month's modeled housing cost still stays inside a 28/36 budget. That cost stacks P&I, a tax allowance pegged to the price, the insurance and HOA you type in, and the PMI assumption you pick. It handles all-cash buys and conventional fixed-rate loans paid off in full over the term. It doesn't replace a lender's approval, and it doesn't cover your whole household budget.
Who Is This For
Weighing a purchase in Florida, as a buyer or as the agent running numbers for one? Put in your own income, your debt, the money you have for buying and what you assume each property costs to carry. It's a planning step. It comes before a lender qualifies you, and before current quotes arrive.
How It Works
Start with annual gross income and the monthly debt payments you carry outside housing. Cash comes next. Count only what's left for the price itself, once closing costs and reserves are set aside. Then add the nominal loan rate, a term in whole years, a yearly tax allowance based on the price, and monthly insurance and HOA. Modeling a scenario with no tax or no HOA? Say so in the field itself rather than leaving it blank. For PMI, pick one: a percentage of the loan per year, a premium a lender quoted you per month, or the assumption that you've confirmed you're exempt. Check that the tool's scope fits your case. Then compare your chosen 28/36 budget with the price, the starting loan and the monthly cost stack. Did the modeled loan or property shift? Get fresh quotes.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I land under 28/36, will a lender approve that amount?
No. Those percentages are rough planning yardsticks, not underwriting caps every lender shares. Income here is gross annual pay divided by 12. Take 28% of that monthly figure. Then take 36% and subtract what you pay each month on debts unrelated to housing. The smaller result becomes your budget, and it never goes below zero. Each lender and loan type sets its own rules on income, credit, assets and the property. So the price you see approves nothing, and it isn't advice on what to spend.
How does picking a PMI option shift my result?
PMI enters the math only when LTV, the loan divided by the price, is above 80%. At 80% or lower, modeled PMI is zero, and that zero doesn't end a policy you already hold or prove you're eligible for anything. Above that line, you choose how PMI is modeled: an explicit share of the starting loan per year, a monthly premium you were quoted, or a confirmed exemption. The tool never slips in a default premium. If you use a quote, confirm it against the loan size the calculator modeled.
Can I run it for a cash purchase?
Yes. Paying cash removes the loan, so P&I and PMI drop out. Tax, insurance and HOA stay, and they still have to fit the monthly budget, even when they land exactly on it. Your funds may cover the entire modeled price; if the price is lower than your funds, the calculator uses only the price. If you enter a zero anywhere, that's your own hypothetical. It doesn't mean Florida taxes or insurance cost nothing for everyone.
Will the tax number match what Florida bills me?
No. It isn't Florida's own tax computation. The tax line is simply the yearly percentage you enter, applied to the modeled price and shown as a monthly amount. It doesn't use millage, assessed value or a Save Our Homes forecast. The seller's tax bill won't tell you what yours will be, so get property-specific guidance on the taxes you'd owe after closing. The calculator doesn't decide exemptions or assessed value.
What isn't counted in the monthly number?
In the figure: loan P&I, the tax allowance and monthly insurance. Add regular HOA/condo dues and modeled PMI. Utilities and maintenance aren't in it, and neither are closing costs. Special assessments and reserves stay out too. Use quotes for your actual property, since they aren't Florida-wide averages. Enter purchase funds only after taking out closing and reserve money. The term field runs 1 to 50 years; that 1–50-year range is a calculation limit, not proof a lender offers such a term.
What does it mean when my result is zero or stuck at a maximum?
A result of zero says only that your entered monthly figures leave no room for a price above zero. It doesn't say you can't buy, and the insurance and HOA you entered still appear. Rounding works against you on purpose: the budget goes down to the cent, every monthly piece is rounded before they're added, and the price is picked on the cautious side. Prices run up to $2,000,000,000, a ceiling and not a certified maximum of what's affordable. Recheck your assumptions. Get lender and property quotes.