What Is a Good Debt-to-Income Ratio? As a general guideline, 43% is the highest DTI ratio a borrower can have and still get qualified for a mortgage. Ideally, lenders prefer a debt-to-income ratio lower than 36%, with no more than 28% of that debt going towards servicing a mortgage or rent payment.
To calculate your DTI, you add up all your monthly debt payments and divide them by your gross monthly income. Your gross monthly income is generally the amount of money you have earned before your taxes and other deductions are taken out.
*Remember your current rent payment or mortgage is not actually included in your DTI calculated by the lender.
Monthly Payments Not Included in the Debt-to-Income Formula
Paid television (cable, satellite, streaming) and internet services. Car insurance. Health insurance and other medical bills. Cell phone services.
Front-end DTI only accounts for monthly housing costs, including rent or mortgage, homeowners association fees, insurance and taxes. It doesn't take into account other expenditures, such as payments on auto loans, student loans, personal loans or credit cards. Back-end DTI accounts for all your monthly debt payments.
1. In 2020, the average American's debt payments made up 8.69% of their income. To put this into perspective, the average American allocates almost 9% of their monthly income to debt payments, which is a drop from 9.69% in Q2 2019.
Despite the use of gross income in the DTI calculation, you can't actually pay your bills with gross income, and net income (i.e., your take-home pay) will always be less than the number used in the DTI calculation.
Your debt-to-income ratio (DTI) helps lenders decide whether to approve your mortgage application. But what is it exactly? Simply put, it is the percentage of your monthly pre-tax income you must spend on your monthly debt payments plus the projected payment on the new home loan.
A Critical Number For Homebuyers
One way to decide how much of your income should go toward your mortgage is to use the 28/36 rule. According to this rule, your mortgage payment shouldn't be more than 28% of your monthly pre-tax income and 36% of your total debt. This is also known as the debt-to-income (DTI) ratio.
If your DTI is 35% or less, you're doing well. Your repayments are manageable, and you may have room for another financial obligation. If you have a DTI ratio between 36% and 49%, you're not doing too badly—but you have room to improve.
What income is required for a 200k mortgage? To be approved for a $200,000 mortgage with a minimum down payment of 3.5 percent, you will need an approximate income of $62,000 annually. (This is an estimated example.)
DTI is calculated by adding up your monthly debt payments and dividing them by your gross (pre-tax) monthly income. Debts that count toward your DTI include things like: Home loan payments (including principal, interest, taxes, and insurance)
A 45% debt ratio is about the highest ratio you can have and still qualify for a mortgage.
Lenders generally look for the ideal front-end ratio to be no more than 28 percent, and the back-end ratio, including all monthly debts, to be no higher than 36 percent.
FHA loans only require a 3.5% down payment. High DTI. If you have a high debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, FHA provides more flexibility and typically lets you go up to a 55% ratio (meaning your debts as a percentage of your income can be as much as 55%). Low credit score.
The average debt for individual consumers dropped from $6,194 in 2019 to $5,315 in 2020. In fact, the average balance declined in every state.
About 21.8% of America has a credit score higher than 800 points. If you have a credit score of 800, it likely means that you manage debt well and never miss a loan payment. This makes you an ideal borrower and gives you access to more offers and lower interest rates.
On a $200,000, 30-year mortgage with a 4% fixed interest rate, your monthly payment would come out to $954.83 — not including taxes or insurance.
Throwing in an extra $500 or $1,000 every month won't necessarily help you pay off your mortgage more quickly. Unless you specify that the additional money you're paying is meant to be applied to your principal balance, the lender may use it to pay down interest for the next scheduled payment.
To purchase a $300K house, you may need to make between $50,000 and $74,500 a year. This is a rule of thumb, and the specific salary will vary depending on your credit score, debt-to-income ratio, the type of home loan, loan term, and mortgage rate.
Conventional loans (backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac): Max DTI of 45% to 50%
“Paying off that card freed up enough monthly debt obligations to lower our DTI and make our mortgage possible.” In addition to lowering your debt, you can change your DTI by increasing your income. As described in the example above, someone who makes $2,000 each month and pays $1,000 toward loans has a 50% DTI.