How much house can I afford?

Start with the 28/36 rule lenders have used for decades: housing costs at or under 28 percent of gross monthly income, and all debt payments combined at or under 36 percent. Housing costs means the full stack: principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and any HOA fee, not just the mortgage line.

Here is the uncomfortable truth: lenders will often approve you well beyond that, sometimes to a 43 to 50 percent debt-to-income ratio. Approval is a statement about their risk model, not your quality of life. A payment that clears underwriting can still eat every vacation and emergency fund you will ever have.

Budget from the monthly payment backward, not the purchase price forward, and stress-test it: could you still make it if one income dropped for three months?