Banks use your gross monthly income — $8,333/month at $100K — and apply the 36% back-end DTI rule for conventional loans, or 43-50% for FHA.
Every $500/month in existing debt (car payment, student loans, credit cards) reduces your buying power by approximately $75,000-$90,000. Banks subtract your existing minimums before calculating how much mortgage you can carry.
Your income qualifies you. Your credit score determines the rate — and the rate determines how much house that income can actually buy.
Same income. Same monthly payment. $100,000 more home — purely from the credit score difference.
Free AI trained on 23 years of banking. No SSN, no sign-up, no affiliate pressure.
🏦 Ask Zai Free → 🔍 Decode Denial LetterNot financial advice. Educational content based on 23 years of mortgage industry experience. Always consult a licensed professional for your specific situation.
Numbers like these tell you what you can afford. They cannot tell you whether a lender will say yes — and that varies more than almost anyone realises. In the complete 2025 federal record, approval rates across the 100 largest FHA lenders ran from 98.2% down to 21.3%. Same program, same year.
And it is not simply who applies where: holding state, loan amount, income, debt-to-income and loan-to-value constant, applicant mix explains only a 2.7× range in expected outcomes.
CFPB HMDA 2025, computed by FinanceRateCalc · rates reflect applicant mix as well as lender practice · historical observation, not a prediction · free, CC BY 4.0.