Buyer Tools
Know your budget before you fall in love with a home.
Enter your income, monthly debts, and down payment. Get a conservative maximum, a stretch maximum, and a comfortable target — with a full monthly payment breakdown you can download as a PDF.
Your situation
Orange County averages ~1.1%
Comfortable target
$510,689
85% of your stretch maximum — leaves room for life.
Conservative
$600,811
28% / 36% DTI
Stretch max
$600,811
28% / 43% DTI
Monthly payment at stretch max ($600,811)
Front-end DTI
28.0%
housing / income
Back-end DTI
31.3%
total debts / income
Estimates only. PMI not included — if down payment is below 20% of purchase price, your actual monthly costs will be higher. This is not a loan pre-approval. Consult a licensed mortgage lender for exact figures.
How the math works
Two DTI limits. One honest answer.
Lenders use two debt-to-income (DTI) ratios to qualify buyers. The front-end ratio caps your total housing payment (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, HOA) at 28% of gross monthly income. The back-end ratio caps all monthly debts — including housing — at 36% to 43% depending on the loan type.
The conservative scenario uses 28/36% — standard conventional loan guidelines. The stretch scenario uses 28/43%, which FHA and some conventional programs allow with strong compensating factors like reserves or a high credit score.
The comfortable target (85% of stretch) is where most buyers feel least house-poor — room for a repair, a job change, or a rate that nudges upward on a refinance.
PMI is not included in these estimates. If your down payment is below 20% of the purchase price, budget an additional 0.5–1% of the loan amount annually for private mortgage insurance.
Next step
Ready to turn a number into a search?
A calculator gives you the budget. Ryan knows which Orlando communities deliver the most home at each price point — and which to avoid. Let’s narrow it down.