Free educational tool
VA Loan Buying-Power Calculator
A unified estimate combining income, debt, the VA funding fee, ZIP-based property tax, and standard VA underwriting guidelines. Not a rate quote, not pre-approval. A clear starting picture of what is realistic.
Your monthly salary or base pay before taxes. BAH has its own field below.
Car, student loans, credit-card minimums.
Active duty: your housing allowance. Not sure? Look it up in the BAH tool.
Subsistence allowance. Flat monthly rate; enlisted and officer differ.
Your estimate. We do not quote rates.
Austin · estimating 1.74% property tax
Everyone in the home. This drives the VA residual-income requirement.
Auto-set from ZIP; the residual table varies by region.
Drives the $0.14/sq ft maintenance + utilities estimate.
Estimated · TX has no state income tax. Edit to match your paystub.
Funding fee is 2.15% for first use, 3.30% for subsequent.
Educational tool. Estimates only based on standard VA underwriting guidelines and the inputs you provide. Not a rate quote, pre-qualification, or commitment to lend.
Estimated buying power
$245,050
Home price you could finance with no down payment in Austin.
- Loan amount
- $250,318
- Funding fee (2.15%)
- $5,269
- Principal + interest
- $1,582 / mo
- Property tax (1.74%)
- $355 / mo
- Insurance
- $125 / mo
- Total monthly
- $2,063 / mo
How this works
The calculator runs the same two tests a VA lender runs, then keeps the smaller answer. That smaller number is your ceiling.
Test one: the 41% debt limit. Add up your monthly debt payments plus the new house payment. VA guidance wants that total at or below 41% of your gross monthly income. That ratio is your .
Test two: money left over. After the house payment, your other debts, taxes, and everyday living costs, a set amount of cash has to remain each month. The VA calls this , and the minimum depends on your region and household size. This is the test conventional loans skip, and it is why a VA loan can approve a payment a conventional lender would not.
Whichever test lets you borrow less becomes your number, exactly as an underwriter would apply them. On top of the loan we add the rest of a real payment: property tax (estimated from your ZIP), a homeowner’s insurance estimate, and the , which gets rolled into the loan.
What this does not account for
A few things this estimate leaves out. A VA-experienced lender can fold each one in:
- Partial entitlement. If you already have an active VA loan somewhere else, your zero-down amount is capped. See the entitlement guide.
- Your credit score.A lower score can raise your rate and trip a lender’s own extra rules (called overlays).
- Disability pay grossing up. Tax-free disability compensation is often counted as worth more, because you keep all of it. BAH is now handled: the calculator takes it in its own field and shows the grossed-up figure. Look up your BAH, or let the military pay calculator build your whole paycheck and carry it in here.
- Taxes are estimated from the withholding percent you enter, not your actual pay stub.
Bring these numbers to a lender and you will have a head start.