TOOLS / DTI

Debt-to-income

Front-end and back-end ratio against published conventional and VA guidance.

DTI stops more purchases than credit scores do, and almost nobody calculates theirs before they shop.

Money coming in

Gross monthly incomeBefore tax, all borrowers combined. Lenders use gross, not take-home.

Money going out

Housing paymentPrincipal, interest, taxes, insurance, mortgage insurance and HOA. The whole thing.

Car payments

Student loans

Credit card minimumsThe minimum due, not what you actually pay.

Anything else with a monthly paymentPersonal loans, child support, co-signed debt.

Back-end debt-to-income

39.8%

$2,590 of monthly obligations against $6,500 of gross income.

Front-end, housing only26.9%

Back-end, housing plus everything else39.8%

Against published guidance

Fannie Mae, manually underwrittenUp to 45% if credit and reserve requirements are met36%

Fannie Mae, through Desktop Underwriter50%

VA supervisor review triggerVA has no hard cap. 41% triggers a supervisor review, and residual income is the governing test.41%

What moves the number

To get to 43%already there

Room left at 45%Monthly payment capacity before you hit that line$335

Room left at 50%$660

You are above the standard guideline but inside the range automated underwriting often allows. This is where compensating factors and reserves start to matter.

Paying off a car loan with four payments left usually does nothing for approval, because lenders often exclude debts with fewer than ten payments remaining. Paying off a card with a large minimum usually does a lot. That is why this is worth calculating before you decide what to pay off.

Source: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-6-02

Source: 38 CFR § 36.4340

These are published underwriting guidelines, not a decision. Every lender layers its own overlays on top, and none of this is a promise that any loan will be approved.

Call (903) 445-1497 Send the numbers over

This is a planning estimate, not an offer, an appraisal, a quote, or a commitment. Everything runs in your browser: no figure you type here is sent anywhere or stored. No loan approval is offered or implied. FHA and Freddie Mac limits are deliberately not shown here because we could not verify them from a primary source.