The number that stops most Bay Area buyers before they start is not the one lenders actually use.<\/p>\n
Run the familiar 36% rule against a $1.3 million home and it tells you that you need roughly $313,000<\/b> a year. Run the same house through the debt-to-income ceiling underwriters actually approve to, and the answer comes back closer to $226,000<\/b>. Both numbers are real. They answer different questions.<\/p>\n
The 36% rule tells you what is comfortable. The ceiling, which reaches 50%<\/b> and in some programs 56.9%<\/b>, tells you what is possible. Where you land between the two is a decision, not a calculation, and nobody can make it from a national blog post.<\/p>\n
The full piece works through the local costs the national guides leave out, why every recurring debt counts harder than an equivalent amount of savings, why ten percent<\/b> is the highest median down payment first-time buyers have made since 1989, and the $20,000 to $30,000<\/b> that tends to land beyond the down payment itself.<\/p>\n What the two rules actually say<\/p>\n Read the full breakdown on harvrealtor.net<\/p>\n Seven frequently asked questions, the reserve requirements, the local closing costs, and the arithmetic behind both numbers.<\/p>\n