Quick Answer — How Much House Can You Afford With FHA or VA?
Start from the payment your income supports, then solve backwards for the price. The constraint is debt-to-income: Max Housing Payment = (Monthly Income × DTI %)/100 - Monthly Debts. Everything else follows from what that payment has to cover.
FHA requires a minimum 3.5% down payment at a 580 credit score or above, charges a 1.75% upfront mortgage insurance premium that is normally financed into the loan, and adds an annual MIP — commonly 0.55% of the loan for a 30-year loan at high loan-to-value — to the monthly payment for the life of most loans.
VA allows 0% down for eligible borrowers, charges no monthly mortgage insurance at all, and levies a one-time funding fee — 2.15% for a first-use borrower with no down payment, reduced with a down payment and higher on subsequent use — which is also normally financed.
Worked example (FHA): an $85,000 income with $450 of monthly debts, $15,000 of cash, a 6.5% rate, 1.1% property tax and $1,800 insurance, at a 43% back-end DTI, supports a purchase price of $326,554. The base loan is $311,554, the financed upfront MIP adds $5,452, and the total loan is $317,006. Principal and interest are $2,003.70, annual MIP adds $142.80 a month, taxes $299.34, and insurance $150.00 — a total payment of $2,595.83.
This calculator estimates affordability, not eligibility. VA entitlement is service-connected and is established by the Department of Veterans Affairs, not by arithmetic; FHA approval depends on credit, documentation, and property standards this tool cannot assess.