Michele's Blog

When you apply for a mortgage, we calculate your debt-to-income ratio to ensure you have enough income to comfortably pay for a new mortgage while still being able to pay your other monthly debts. Most underwriting for conventional mortgage loans requires a qualifying ratio of 28/36.

The Front-End Ratio considers and adds up your anticipated monthly mortgage payment, plus other monthly costs, such as homeowner association (HOA) fees, property taxes, mortgage insurance and homeowner’s insurance, and divides it by your gross monthly income.

The Back-End Ratio looks at your other payments and revolving debts such as minimum monthly credit card payments, student loan payments, alimony, child support and car payments – all of which are analyzed and added together. Then, those payments are added to your estimated monthly mortgage payment and housing expenses, and divided by your monthly gross income for your total debt-to-income ratio.

Here are some examples:

28/36 (Conventional)

• Gross monthly income of $8,000 x .28 = $2,240 can be applied to housing
• Gross monthly income of $8,000 x .36 = $2,880 can be applied to recurring debt, plus housing expenses

With a 29/41 (FHA) qualifying ratio

• Gross monthly income of $8,000 x .29 = $2,320 can be applied to housing
• Gross monthly income of $8,000 x .41 = $3,280 can be applied to recurring debt, plus housing expenses

If you would like to run your own numbers, we offer a Mortgage Loan Qualification Calculator. Remember, these ratios are only guidelines. Contact us and let us help you figure out what kind of payments would best fit your budget. We help home buyers every day achieve the dream of home ownership!