Why I built RealAfford
I created RealAfford because I was a first-time homebuyer who couldn't find a calculator that answered my real question: "After I pay my mortgage, taxes, insurance, groceries, and other obligations, what will I actually have left to live on?"
Every calculator I found told me what the bank would approve me for. But approval isn't the same as affordability. Banks don't care if you can still afford groceries, grow your savings, or go on vacation. They just want to know if you'll make your payments.
I wanted a tool that would help me understand the full picture. Not just whether I could get a loan, but whether I could comfortably live in the home I was buying.
So I built one.
How RealAfford is different
Most mortgage calculators stop at your monthly payment. We go further:
We use take-home pay, not gross income
The traditional "28/36 rule" uses your pre-tax income, but you don't spend pre-tax dollars. You spend what hits your bank account. We ask for your actual take-home pay because it's more accurate and actionable.
We account for regional cost of living
$3,000 left over in Mississippi goes a lot further than $3,000 in California. When you enter your ZIP code, we adjust our estimates for groceries, transportation, healthcare, and other essentials based on your state's cost of living index.
We show you what's actually left
After subtracting your housing costs, debts, utilities, and maintenance, we estimate your remaining monthly budget. Then we compare that against typical living expenses for your household size to tell you whether you'll be comfortable, stretched thin, or house broke.
Our methodology
Monthly housing costs include:
- Principal and interest (calculated using standard amortization)
- Property taxes (based on state averages, adjustable)
- Homeowners insurance
- PMI (if down payment is less than 20%, estimated by LTV)
- HOA fees and additional hazard insurance (if applicable)
Living expenses are estimated based on:
- Household size (1-5+ people)
- State cost of living index (ranging from 85 in Mississippi to 190 in Hawaii)
- National baseline costs for groceries, transportation, and other essentials
Important: RealAfford provides estimates for educational purposes. Your actual costs will vary based on your lifestyle, location within your state, health needs, and spending habits. This is not financial advice. It's a starting point for making informed decisions.
The numbers we use
Property tax rates are state averages from tax assessment data, ranging from 0.28% (Hawaii) to 2.49% (New Jersey).
PMI estimates are calculated based on loan-to-value ratio:
- LTV 80-85%: ~0.375% annually
- LTV 85-90%: ~0.625% annually
- LTV 90-95%: ~0.875% annually
- LTV 95%+: ~1.03% annually
Cost of living adjustments are based on regional price parity data, normalized to a national average of 100.
Affordability thresholds for take-home pay:
- Comfortable: Housing costs under 35% of take-home
- Stretching: Housing costs 35-50% of take-home
- Aggressive: Housing costs over 50% of take-home
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