The bank will approve you for more than you should take.
"Pre-approved for $1.1 million" is not a compliment. It is the maximum a lender will lend before their risk gets uncomfortable — not the maximum before yours does. Here is both numbers, side by side.
Affordability is two different numbers and lenders only ever quote you one. A lender will approve you to roughly 43% of gross income including all debts — that is where their risk becomes uncomfortable. The ratio that keeps your life intact is closer to 28% on housing alone. On $18,000 a month that is the difference between a $1.11M approval and a $926k house. The gap is not free money. It is the margin you live on.
Two numbers. Only one is safe.
Move the sliders. Watch the gap between what you'll be offered and what you should take.
Cars, cards, student loans, child support — and HOA dues count too.
Unstable income should carry a smaller payment, not the same one.
The house you can live in, not just qualify for.
A lender would hand you $1,106,583. We would tell you to buy at $925,916. Only one of us is living in the house.
This is what over-approval looks like.
The tall tower is what a lender will lend you. The shorter one is what a mortgage broker who has watched people drown will tell you to take. Both are real. Only one is survivable.
Want your real maximum — with your actual credit, debts and reserves? Adriana will run both.
Illustrative only. Lender debt-to-income ceilings vary by programme and by compensating factors; 43% is a common conventional benchmark and some programmes go higher. The 28% front-end ratio is a long-standing guideline, not a rule. Taxes, insurance, PMI and HOA are estimated. Not a commitment to lend. Equal Housing Opportunity.
What the gap actually buys you.
Spending the difference isn't "getting more house." It's spending your emergency fund, in advance, every month, for thirty years.
From here to the keys — five steps.
No mystery, no call centre, no "we'll get back to you." Every step is exactly what happens inside it.
Four questions. No credit pull, no sign-up, no obligation.
~60 secondsWhat happensOne application goes to dozens of wholesale lenders. They compete for you.
Same dayWhat happensUnderwritten against real documents — not a soft letter any lender prints.
~24 hoursWhat happensListing agents call Adriana. She picks up. That is worth more than a bid.
Your timelineWhat happensConditions cleared, docs signed, funded. And she tells you when PMI ends.
To the dateWhat happensThree buyers. One took the bank's number.
Real files, real numbers.
He was insulted. He bought at $1.06M. Then his company had a layoff round and he kept his house.
Nothing went wrong. That was the problem — nothing had to. There was simply no room left.
Six months later the roof and the transmission went in the same month. He didn't notice.
ADReal Estate & Mortgage Broker · GRI
Milpitas, California · Serving all 58 counties
English & Español
Don't take our word for it — click through and verify her licence yourself. We'd encourage it. Anyone who discourages you from checking is telling you something.
A licensed broker who answers her own phone.
"A broker who will tell you no is the only kind whose yes means anything."
The other eight calculators.
Each one shows you a number the rest leave out.
Everything people actually ask.
Why does the bank approve more than I can afford?
Because a lender is measuring their risk of loss, not your quality of life. At a 43% debt-to-income ratio most borrowers still repay reliably — which is all the lender needs to be true. Whether you can also save, travel, replace a car, or absorb a bad year is not something they underwrite.
What is a good debt-to-income ratio?
Lenders commonly allow up to 43% back-end (all debts including the mortgage), and some programmes go higher. The traditional guidance is 28% front-end — housing alone — and it exists for a reason. The distance between 28% and 43% is where most housing stress lives.
Does a bigger down payment mean I can afford more house?
It lowers your payment and can remove PMI, so yes, it increases what you qualify for. But be careful: emptying your savings into a down payment to buy more house is exactly how people end up asset-rich and one repair away from a crisis. Keep reserves.
How much should I keep in reserves after closing?
Three to six months of full housing costs is the common guidance, and in high-cost California we would push toward six. Some loan programmes require reserves outright. If buying the house leaves you with nothing, you have bought too much house.
Do HOA dues affect how much I can borrow?
Yes, and heavily. Lenders count HOA dues in your debt-to-income ratio like any other obligation. A $700 monthly HOA can cut over $100,000 from your maximum loan — and it surprises people constantly.
Should unstable income change the number?
It should change it a lot. If your income varies — commission, self-employment, contract work — the same payment carries far more risk. We reduce the recommended ratio for variable income, because a payment that is merely tight in a good month is impossible in a bad one.
Will pre-approval hurt my credit?
A full pre-approval involves a hard credit inquiry, which typically has a small, temporary effect. Multiple mortgage inquiries within a short shopping window are generally treated as a single event by scoring models. This calculator does not touch your credit at all.
Can I get approved with student loans?
Usually, yes. How the payment is counted depends on the loan type and repayment plan, and the treatment differs between conventional, FHA and VA. Income-driven repayment plans in particular are handled differently by different programmes — which means the same borrower can qualify for very different amounts.
Stop estimating. Get the real number.
Four questions, no credit pull. You'll get your payment, your options, and an honest read on the best fit.