Mortgage Debt Ratios

A note about ratios:

After your credit report, the most important factor an underwriter will look at are debt to income ratios which are frequently referred to as Front and Back Ratios and are expressed as "28/36".
The first or front ratio is your total monthly (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance) housing expense divided by your total monthly pretax income.
The second or back ratio is your total housing expense plus all other monthly debt divided by your total monthly pretax income. For ratio calculation purposes, credit card debt uses the minimum monthly payment. Also, if you have installment debt (car payment) with less than 10 months remaining, we can ignore the debt for qualification purposes.
Traditional underwriting restricted you to 28/36 ratios. However, progressive lenders have embraced electronic underwriting. These Artificial Intelligence programs have the ability to analyze your credit history, job stability, reserves, etc. and ratios can go up to 40/49 for well qualified borrowers. Another reason to have a qualified Loan Officer do a thorough pre-qualification for you.

An example:

Suppose you make $60,000 per year and want to buy a home for $200,000 with a 20% down payment. Your loan will be for $160,000. Your Principal and Interest payment will be $1118, Taxes $185, and insurance of $30 for a total payment of $1333. Your payment divided by your monthly income of $5000 equals a 27% Front Ratio. Next, assume a $250 car payment, $100 in monthly credit card bills and $50 in student loans. Your proposed payment of $1333, plus other debt of $400 gives you a total debt of $1733 divided by your $5,000 monthly income for a Back Ratio of 36%. If the loan program requires ratios of 28/36 (many allow much higher ratios) you would be approved assuming good credit and some reserves. Simple? Not really, but ratios are one of the fundamental calculations you can make when thinking about a mortgage.

All loan programs have set ratios depending on the guidelines. If your profile doesn't meet one set of guidelines, then there are still other options under different programs. A Preferred Lender will work up several different options for you to see which program best meets your needs.

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