Mortgage Prequalification Calculator (USA)
Find out how much home you'd likely qualify for based on income, monthly debts, DTI limits, down payment, and cash on hand — with Conventional, FHA, VA and USDA rules built in.
| Rate | Max price | Loan amount | Down payment | P&I | Total PITI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calculate to see table | |||||
How to use the mortgage prequalification calculator
Four quick steps estimate the home price you’d likely qualify for — running the same income, debt, and cash tests a lender applies, with Conventional, FHA, VA, and USDA rules built in.
Enter income & debts
Gross annual income, any co-borrower, and your recurring monthly debt payments.
Pick a loan type
Conventional, FHA, VA, or USDA — each sets its own down payment, fees, and DTI limits.
Add housing costs
Property tax, insurance, HOA, closing costs, and the DTI limits you want to test.
Read your ceiling
Max price, the payment behind it, what’s limiting you, and a downloadable PDF.
This is not a preapproval. Nothing here is verified and no credit is pulled. Lenders confirm income, assets, and credit, apply their own overlays and loan limits, and may reach a different number. When you’re ready to make offers, sellers will expect a preapproval letter from a licensed lender.
How prequalification is calculated
Three tests set your ceiling, and the lowest one wins: what your income supports, what your income supports after existing debts, and what your savings can cover at closing. The calculator works each out, then solves backwards for the price that fits.
Worked example — 95,000 income, 600 monthly debts, 60,000 cash, 10% down at 6.50%
Gross monthly income: 95,000 ÷ 12 ≈ 7,917
Front-end allowance: 7,917 × 28% ≈ 2,217
Back-end allowance: 7,917 × 43% − 600 ≈ 2,804
Qualifying PITI: the lower of the two = 2,217
Price your cash supports: 60,000 ÷ 13% ≈ 461,500
≈ max price 292,500 — a 263,250 loan, 2,214 monthly payment, and 38,025 cash to close. Income is the binding test here, not cash.
Prequalification charts
Handy lookups for the questions people ask most — what each income buys, when debts start to bite, what a rate move costs you, and how the loan programs compare. Figures use 600 in monthly debts, 10% down at 6.50% over 30 years, 1.1% property tax, and 1,800 a year for insurance, unless noted.
| Gross annual income | Qualifying PITI | Max home price | Loan amount | Down payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60,000 | 1,400 | 177,000 | 159,300 | 17,700 |
| 80,000 | 1,867 | 243,000 | 218,700 | 24,300 |
| 95,000 | 2,217 | 292,500 | 263,250 | 29,250 |
| 120,000 | 2,800 | 375,500 | 337,950 | 37,550 |
| 150,000 | 3,500 | 474,500 | 427,050 | 47,450 |
Assumes enough cash for the down payment and closing costs. On 60,000 of savings the 150,000-income row would actually stop at about 461,500 — the cash test takes over before the income test does.
| Monthly debts | Max home price | Binding test |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 292,500 | Front-end |
| 600 | 292,500 | Front-end |
| 1,000 | 292,500 | Front-end |
| 1,300 | 276,500 | Back-end |
| 1,600 | 234,000 | Back-end |
| 2,000 | 177,500 | Back-end |
This surprises people: at 28/43 limits, debts change nothing until they pass about 1,188 a month, because the front-end test is stricter until that point. Past the crossover, every extra 100 of debt costs roughly 14,000 of buying power.
| Interest rate | Max home price | Principal & interest | Change vs. 6.50% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.00% | 333,000 | 1,609 | +40,500 |
| 5.50% | 319,000 | 1,630 | +26,500 |
| 6.00% | 305,500 | 1,648 | +13,000 |
| 6.50% | 292,500 | 1,664 | — |
| 7.00% | 281,000 | 1,683 | −11,500 |
| 7.50% | 269,500 | 1,696 | −23,000 |
Roughly 12,000 to 13,000 of buying power per half point at this income. The monthly payment barely changes across the rows — the price moves instead, because the payment is what’s fixed by your DTI limit.
| Program | DTI limits | Max price | Cash to close | Monthly payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional 20% down | 28 / 43 | 260,500 | 59,915 | 1,706 |
| Conventional 10% down | 28 / 43 | 292,500 | 38,025 | 2,214 |
| Conventional 3% down | 28 / 43 | 274,000 | 16,440 | 2,214 |
| FHA 3.5% down | 31 / 43 | 304,500 | 19,792 | 2,454 |
| VA 0% down | 31 / 41 | 312,500 | 9,375 | 2,454 |
| USDA 0% down | 29 / 41 | 282,500 | 8,475 | 2,295 |
Two things drive the differences: the DTI limits each program allows, and how much mortgage insurance or financed fee sits inside the payment. The 20% down row is capped by cash — on income alone it would reach about 345,500, but it needs nearly 79,500 at closing to get there. VA and USDA have eligibility rules this calculator doesn’t check.
| Cash available | Price your cash supports | Price your income supports | Your ceiling |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20,000 | 153,500 | 292,500 | 153,500 |
| 30,000 | 230,500 | 292,500 | 230,500 |
| 40,000 | 307,500 | 292,500 | 292,500 |
| 60,000 | 461,500 | 292,500 | 292,500 |
Every 13,000 of savings supports about 100,000 of price at these settings. Past about 40,000, more cash stops raising the ceiling on this income — a lower down payment program would do more than another year of saving.
housing only
housing + debts
what you’ve saved
Each test produces a price, and your ceiling is the smallest of the three — which is why the calculator names the one that’s actually binding.
- Front-end — your housing payment alone against gross income.
- Back-end — the same payment plus car loans, cards, and student loans.
- Cash to close — whether your savings cover the down payment and closing costs.
Everything the calculator works out
One set of income, debt, and cash figures gives you the whole picture — the ceiling, the payment behind it, and which lever would actually raise it.
Key figures behind prequalification
Built for the question before house hunting
Whether you’re setting a search budget, weighing a car loan against a bigger house, or working out how much more to save, the same three tests decide it.
Wants a realistic price range before browsing listings, and a sense of what the monthly payment would actually be.
- Compare loan programs side by side
- Check the payment, not just the price
- Leave room below your ceiling
Carrying monthly payments and wondering whether clearing one would meaningfully raise what they can borrow.
- See if back-end is even binding
- Try removing one loan payment
- Weigh payoff against down payment
Has the income but not the savings, and wants to know whether a low down payment program beats waiting another year.
- Read the limiting factor first
- Test 3% and 3.5% down options
- Budget closing costs, not just down
7 tips for a realistic prequalification
A few habits keep the number honest — and keep the house affordable after you move in.
Mortgage prequalification calculator FAQ
The DTI, documentation, credit, and cash questions people ask most before applying for a mortgage.
Prequalification is an early estimate of how much a lender would likely let you borrow, based on the income, debts, and cash you report. Nothing is verified and no credit decision is made — it is a planning number, not a commitment.
It is useful for setting a realistic price range before you start looking, and for seeing which levers actually move your ceiling. When you are ready to make offers, you need a preapproval instead.
Prequalification is based on figures you state yourself and takes minutes. Preapproval involves a lender pulling your credit and reviewing pay stubs, W-2s, tax returns, and bank statements, then issuing a letter that sellers treat as evidence you can actually close.
In competitive markets, most listing agents will not take an offer seriously without a preapproval letter. Treat this calculator as the step before you talk to a lender, not a replacement for one.
Lenders look at two ratios. The front-end ratio is your housing payment as a share of gross monthly income, commonly guided at 28% for conventional loans and 31% for FHA. The back-end ratio adds all your other monthly debts, and is commonly guided at 36% to 43%.
These are guidelines rather than hard walls. Back-end ratios up to 50% are approved regularly when there are strong compensating factors such as large reserves, a high credit score, or a big down payment, and every lender applies its own overlays.
Lenders count recurring obligations that appear on your credit report or a court order: car loans and leases, student loan payments, credit card minimums, personal loans, and child support or alimony.
They do not count rent you are about to stop paying, utilities, groceries, phone bills, insurance premiums, or retirement contributions. Enter only the first group, or the calculator will understate what you can borrow.
Using a 6.5% rate, 10% down, a 30-year term, 1.1% property tax, and 1,800 a year for insurance, a 300,000 home carries a total payment of roughly 2,267 a month. Against a 28% front-end guideline that needs about 97,000 in gross annual income.
You would also need roughly 39,000 in cash — 30,000 down plus about 9,000 in closing costs — and low enough other debts to keep your back-end ratio inside the limit. Change any of those inputs and the income requirement moves with it.
Not directly through the DTI math, but very much through the rate and the products you are offered. A lower score usually means a higher interest rate and a higher mortgage insurance premium, both of which raise the monthly payment and therefore lower the price you qualify for.
This calculator does not adjust your rate automatically for the score you select, so enter a rate that reflects what you would actually be quoted. Scores below 580 sharply limit your options, and below 640 an FHA loan is often a better fit than conventional.
Your price ceiling is whichever comes first: the payment your income supports, or the price your savings can cover for the down payment plus closing costs. With 10% down and 3% closing costs, every 13,000 of cash supports about 100,000 of purchase price.
When cash is the binding constraint, a lower down payment program can raise your ceiling even though it increases the monthly payment. That is why the calculator names the limiting factor — it tells you whether to save more or reduce debts.
This calculator does not touch your credit at all — nothing is submitted and no inquiry is made. Many lender prequalification tools use a soft inquiry, which is also not visible to other lenders and does not affect your score.
Preapproval does involve a hard inquiry, which can cost a few points temporarily. Mortgage inquiries made within a short shopping window are typically treated as a single inquiry by scoring models, so comparing several lenders is not penalized the way people expect.
General Estimating Notice: This calculator estimates buying power from the income, debts, cash, loan type, rate, term, tax, insurance, HOA, and DTI limits you enter. It is not a prequalification letter, a preapproval, or a commitment to lend, and no credit is checked. Lenders verify income, assets, credit, and the property itself, and apply their own overlays, conforming and FHA loan limits, reserve requirements, and residual-income tests. The rate is not adjusted for the credit score you select, mortgage insurance rates vary by credit and loan-to-value, FHA premiums often run for the life of the loan, and VA and USDA loans carry eligibility rules not modeled here. Figures are illustrations, not a quote or financial advice. Speak with a licensed lender for a formal Loan Estimate. For planning purposes only.