How the numbers work
Where every figure comes from, at a glance. Enter a real number anywhere and the estimate steps aside.
Monthly payment
P&I + tax + insurance + HOA
Loan principal & interest on the standard amortization curve, plus property tax, insurance, and HOA — your true monthly outflow.
Cash → down payment
Closing costs ≈ 3%
Of the price (2%–5% range). Taken from your cash first; the rest is the down payment. Excludes agent commission (seller-paid).
Budget fit (DTI)
28 / 36 / 43
Safe ≤ 28%/36%Stretch ≤ 43%Over > 43%
Housing vs. income (front-end) and housing + debts vs. income (back-end).
Renovations
rate × size × tier
Roof $7/roofKitchen $200/kitchenFlooring $10/sfSiding $8/exterior wall
Budget / mid / high tiers. Roof & siding size is estimated from sqft + stories. Each item's confidence feeds the conservative / likely / maximum totals.
Scoring & ranking
normalize → weight
Each metric is scored 0–1 across your houses (best = 1), then combined by your weights into one composite score that ranks them. Change weights, ranking updates live.
Sources
Cited & dated
Renovation 2026-07-05, closing 2026-07-13, DTI 2026-07-13. All are editorial-guide benchmarks — rough starting points, not quotes.
Many figures are estimates from benchmarks and rules of thumb — guidance, not fact, and not financial advice. Where a real number exists (your rate, a quote, the tax bill), enter it.