How much house can I afford in Texas?

How this affordability calculator works

Most affordability tools ask for a price and tell you the payment. This one runs the other direction, the way a lender does. It starts with your gross monthly income, applies a debt-to-income target, subtracts the monthly debts you already carry, and turns whatever is left into the highest home price whose full payment still fits. That full payment is not just principal and interest. It folds in Texas property tax, homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance, and any HOA dues, because those are what actually land in your monthly number.

Because taxes, insurance, and mortgage insurance all scale with the price, the calculator solves the loop for you and settles on a figure, then shows the payment breakdown, your loan amount, and the share of income it uses. Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to me or saved anywhere, so you can be candid with the inputs and get an honest answer.

The 28/36 rule, and how lenders actually decide

Lenders look at two debt-to-income ratios. The front-end ratio is your housing payment as a share of gross monthly income. The back-end ratio is all of your monthly debt, the housing payment plus car loans, minimum credit card payments, and student loans, as a share of that same income. The classic guideline is 28 percent front and 36 percent back, which is why you hear the 28/36 rule.

In practice the back-end ratio is the one that usually binds, and automated underwriting is more flexible than the old rule. Conventional, FHA, VA, and USDA loans frequently approve higher back-end ratios when the rest of the file is strong, sometimes into the 43 to 50 percent range with solid credit, cash reserves, or, for VA, enough residual income left over each month. That is why this calculator lets you choose a conservative, moderate, or higher target rather than locking you to one number. The honest move is to qualify for one thing and spend like you qualified for less.

One detail that trips people up: lenders count the debts that show on your credit report and the new housing payment. They do not count utilities, groceries, insurance you pay out of pocket, or the streaming bundle. So the calculator asks only for the debts an underwriter would actually use.

What moves your Texas buying power the most

Five inputs do most of the work, and you can feel each one by changing it in the calculator:

• Property tax. Texas has no state income tax and leans on property tax instead, so the effective rate runs higher than most states and pulls your buying power down. A primary residence with the homestead exemption pays less, and the rate varies a lot by county, so set it to your area.
• Your monthly debts. Every dollar of car or card payment comes straight off your housing budget. Clearing a payment before you buy is often the fastest way to raise the price you can reach.
• Your down payment. More cash down means a smaller loan for the same price, and crossing 20 percent on a conventional loan drops PMI entirely.
• Your rate. Since you enter your own rate, you can see exactly how a higher or lower number changes the answer. This is also why a quote that fits your file matters.
• Your term. A shorter term builds equity faster but raises the monthly payment, which lowers the price you can carry at the same income.

Your loan program changes the answer

The same income buys different amounts of house depending on the program, because each one treats mortgage insurance and upfront fees differently. Switch the loan type at the top of the calculator to compare:

• Conventional. PMI applies under 20 percent down and ends as you build equity, so a larger down payment stretches further here.
• FHA. A lower down payment option, but it carries both upfront and monthly mortgage insurance, which trims how much home a given payment buys.
• VA. For eligible veterans and service members, with zero down and no monthly mortgage insurance, so more of every payment goes to the loan itself. That often means real buying power. A one-time funding fee is financed in unless you are exempt.
• USDA. For eligible rural and many suburban Texas areas, with zero down, a small monthly fee, and an upfront guarantee fee financed in.

You can read the details on my conventional, FHA, VA, and USDA program pages, then send me your scenario so I can confirm what you qualify for.

What this estimate is, and what it is not

This tool estimates a comfortable price range from the numbers you enter. It is not an approval, a pre-qualification, or a commitment to lend, and it does not account for your full credit profile, cash reserves, employment history, or the specific property. It also does not include closing costs or the cash you set aside for reserves, which a real pre-approval will.

Treat the result as a planning figure that keeps you from falling for a house out of range. When you want the number that carries weight with a seller, I pre-qualify you against your actual file and hand you a letter. Rather than guess, that is when buying power becomes real.