House options calculator

What house can you buy?

Every loan type side by side, with the salary each one needs. Green means you can breathe. Red is roughly where lenders stop saying yes, which is not the same as where you should stop.

Live rate: 6.69% for a 30-year fixed, 6.01% for a 15-year — Freddie Mac weekly survey, 2026-08-06.

Gross yearly salary

Credit score

Other monthly debts

Property tax % / yr

Insurance % / yr

HOA / month

30-yr rate %

15-yr rate %

Closing costs %

Comfortably, on $80,000 a year

$225,980

Best case in the green zone, using Conventional 20% down.

Financially safe · 28%

Room for saving, investing and the months that go wrong.

Okay · 36%

Workable, but the budget starts doing what you tell it rather than what you want.

Lowest you can go · 43%

Roughly where lenders stop saying yes. Approved is not the same as affordable.

Percentages are the house payment plus your other monthly debts, against gross monthly income.

Loan type	Down	Rate	Financially safe	Okay	Lowest you can go	Cash to close
Conventional 3% down Lowest entry for a conventional loan. PMI until you reach 20% equity.	3%	6.94%	$175,565	$239,407	$295,269	$10,534
Conventional 5% down A little more down, cheaper PMI and a slightly better rate.	5%	6.84%	$183,623	$250,395	$308,821	$14,690
Conventional 20% down No mortgage insurance at all. The cheapest monthly payment, the biggest cash pile.	20%	6.69%	$225,980	$308,154	$380,057	$51,975
FHA 3.5% down Built for lower credit scores. Mortgage insurance usually lasts the life of the loan.	3.5%	6.49%	$183,721	$250,529	$308,986	$11,942
VA 0% down Nothing down and no monthly mortgage insurance. Hard to beat if you qualify.	0%	6.44%	$189,256	$258,076	$318,294	$5,678
USDA 0% down Nothing down in eligible rural and many suburban areas.	0%	6.49%	$183,215	$249,839	$308,134	$5,496
15-year, 20% down Much higher payment, far less interest. Needs the biggest income of the lot.	20%	6.01%	$181,327	$247,264	$304,959	$41,705
Jumbo 20% down For prices above the conforming limit. Stricter on score and reserves.	20%	6.94%	$221,432	$301,953	$372,408	$50,929

Cash to close is for the green-zone price, and is the down payment plus 3% closing costs.

Who can use what

FHA 3.5% down. Credit score from 580 (500–579 needs 10% down).
VA 0% down. Veterans, active duty and some surviving spouses. Funding fee waived if you have a service-connected disability.
USDA 0% down. Property must be in a USDA-eligible area and household income capped near 115% of the area median.
Jumbo 20% down. Only applies above the conforming loan limit in your county.
Conventional loans need roughly a 620 score; the rate you are quoted improves in steps as the score rises, which is what the credit-score selector changes here.

How this works

The monthly figure is principal, interest, property tax, insurance, HOA and mortgage insurance — the whole payment, not just the loan.
FHA, VA and USDA upfront fees are added to the loan, which is how they are normally paid.
Conventional PMI falls away near 20% equity, so those payments drop later. FHA insurance usually does not.
Rates come from Freddie Mac's weekly survey; each programme is offset from it by a typical spread, then adjusted for your credit band. A real quote will differ, so every rate here is editable.
The conforming limit is treated as $806,500, but it is higher in expensive counties.
Estimates only, not financial advice, and not a lending decision.

Renting against buying

Buying is not automatically better than renting. The honest comparison is the total cost of owning, including interest, taxes, insurance, maintenance and the transaction costs at both ends, against rent plus whatever the down payment would have earned invested.

Time horizon usually decides it. Buying and selling a house costs roughly 8 to 10 percent of the price in fees between them, which takes several years of appreciation to recover.

Common questions

How long do I need to stay for buying to win?

Commonly five years or more, though it depends on the local price to rent ratio and what your down payment would have earned elsewhere. Below about three years the transaction costs alone usually make renting cheaper.

Is rent really throwing money away?

No more than mortgage interest, property tax, insurance and maintenance are. In the early years of a mortgage the large majority of each payment is interest rather than equity, so the amount of a payment that actually builds wealth is smaller than it feels.

What is the price to rent ratio?

Purchase price divided by a year of rent for a similar property. Under about 15 buying tends to look favourable, over about 21 renting usually does, and the middle is genuinely a judgement call that depends on how long you stay.

Does buying protect me from rising rents?

Partly. A fixed rate mortgage payment does not rise, which is real protection, but property taxes, insurance and maintenance all track inflation and have risen sharply in many states.

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