For First-Time Home Buyers
Buying your first home is mostly a math problem with emotions attached. These calculators answer the math part honestly. Use them, leave, come back when something changes.
The order I'd run them in if I were buying my first home today: Affordability → Rent vs Buy (do you actually want to own?) → Mortgage / FHA / VA (which financing fits) → Property Tax (what's the real monthly cost?) → House Hack (could you reduce your housing cost to near-zero?). That's an evening of work and you'll be ahead of 90% of first-time buyers.
Home Affordability Calculator
How much house can you actually afford? Real DTI ratios, not the lender's max.
Start here. The bank's pre-approval is the ceiling, not the target.
Mortgage Calculator
Full PITI: principal, interest, taxes, insurance, HOA, and PMI.
The complete monthly payment, not just the bank's P&I quote.
FHA Loan Calculator
3.5% down, UFMIP financed, MIP for life of loan.
Most accessible loan for first-time buyers — but you need to see the full cost.
VA Loan Calculator
0% down, no PMI, funding fee replaces it.
If you're a veteran, this is almost certainly the best loan available to you.
Rent vs Buy Calculator
Year-by-year comparison crediting renter's invested capital.
The only honest version of this question. Most calculators are biased toward buying.
House Hack Calculator
Buy a 2-4 unit, live in one, rent the others. FHA-eligible.
How most successful real estate investors got started — including me.
Property Tax Estimator
Mill rates, assessed value, exemptions.
Property tax can be 1-3% of home value annually. It compounds. Plan for it.
Mortgage Payoff Calculator
How much extra principal each month saves you in years + interest.
Once you have the loan, this shows what discipline buys you.
A quick word from the operator
I run more than 200 rental units. Almost half of those are owned by people who, fifteen years ago, were first-time home buyers without much money saved. The math at that stage was tight — tighter than the math is for me today. I built these calculators because the question "can I afford this?" deserves a real answer, not a bank-friendly one. The bank wants to lend you the maximum they can underwrite. You want to buy the house you can actually live in without scrambling. Those are different numbers.