About

AffordWhat exists because every mortgage calculator we could find was lead generation wearing a calculator’s clothes.

Type your income into a bank’s tool and it returns the largest loan its underwriting will tolerate, presented as though that were a recommendation. It will not tell you that the payment is 48% of your take-home pay. It will not tell you that a zero-down loan costs you six figures of purchasing power. It will ask for your email.

What this does instead

• Shows the monthly payment broken into principal, interest, taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance — because the sticker price is not what you live with.
• Compares zero-down programs honestly, funding fees and rate premiums included.
• Flags the debt-to-income ceiling instead of hiding it.
• Puts your number next to what homes in your town actually cost.

What it refuses to do

• Collect your name, email, phone number or anything else. There is no form and no account.
• Refer you to a lender, or take a fee from one.
• Present a lender’s maximum as a recommendation.

The site is static. Everything you type stays in your browser. See Privacy for the specifics and Methodology for how every number is derived.

This is an independent project. It is not a lender, a broker, or a licensed financial adviser, and nothing here is financial advice.