| Calculators >> Mortgage
Qualifier
The first step in buying a house is determining your budget.
This calculator steps you through the process of finding
out how much you can borrow. Fill in the entry fields and
click on the "View Report" button to see a complete amortization
schedule of your mortgage payments.
Definitions
- Annual income
- Your annual income before taxes. For married
couples this is your total combined annual income
before taxes.
- Purchase price
- The price of the home
you wish to purchase. This
is the actual price you'll
pay, not including any
closing costs.
- Total
monthly
payment
- Total
monthly payment
that you
can qualify
for. This
is the total
of principal,
interest,
taxes and
insurance
paid each
month. Often
called PITI.
- Cash
on
hand
- Cash
you
have
for
the
down
payment
and
all
closing
costs.
- Interest
rate
- The
current
annual
interest
rate
you
can
receive
on
your
mortgage.
- Term
in
years
- The
number
of
years
over
which
you
will
repay
this
loan.
The
most
common
mortgage
terms
are
15
years
and
30
years.
- Property
tax
rate
- Your
property
tax
rate.
1%
for
a
$100,000
home
equals
$1,000
per
year
in
property
taxes.
- Home
insurance
rate
- Your
homeowner's
insurance
rate.
0.5%
for
a
$100,000
home
equals
$500
per
year
for
homeowner's
insurance.
- Monthly
car
payment(s)
- Total
monthly
payment
for
your
car
loan(s).
- Credit
card
payments
- Total
monthly
minimum
payments
for
your
credit
cards.
- Other
loan
payments
- Any
other
installment
loan
payments,
such
as
student
loans
or
unsecured
loans.
- Total
closing
costs
- Total
upfront
costs
to
close
your
loan.
This
is
the
total
of
your
loan
origination
fee,
points
paid
and
other
closing
costs.
- Loan
origination
rate
- The
percentage
the
lending
institution
charges
for
its
origination
fee.
1%
for
a
$100,000
home
equals
$1,000.
- Number
of
points
paid
- The
total
number
of
points
paid
to
reduce
the
interest
rate
of
your
mortgage.
Each
point
costs
1%
of
your
mortgage
balance.
- Other
closing
costs
- Estimate
of
all
other
closing
costs
for
this
loan.
This
should
include
filing
fees,
appraiser
fees
and
any
other
miscellaneous
fees
paid.
- Monthly
PMI
payment
- Monthly
cost
of
Principal
Mortgage
Insurance
(PMI).
For
loans
secured
with
less
than
20%
down,
PMI
is
estimated
at
0.5%
of
your
loan
balance
each
year.
Monthly
PMI
is
calculated
by
multiplying
your
starting
loan
balance
by
this
percent
and
dividing
by
12.
When
the
equity
in
your
home
exceeds
the
percentage
required
for
PMI,
your
PMI
payment
drops
to
zero.
Please
note
that
this
is
only
an
estimate
of
your
actual
PMI.
The
amount
you
may
be
required
to
pay
may
be
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