Basic mortgage affordability factors include your monthly income, other debt obligations, and credit score. Your lender will compare the money coming in to the money going out and represent this as a figure called the debt-to-income ratio, or DTI. Lenders are looking for borrowers who have stable, reliable income- the kind of people who can make their mortgage payment on time every month.
The last thing a lender wants is to put you in a home that will make you house poor, or worse, put you on the road to foreclosure. Your lender’s goal is to make sure you’re at low risk for default while giving you the purchasing power you need to make a competitive offer on a home you love.