What if rates move? What's $100 of maintenance worth?
A co-op's maintenance or a condo's common charges count against your income exactly like a mortgage payment does, so a building with high charges shrinks your budget the same way a higher rate does. This reruns the co-op and condo calculators at every rate (or every charge level) and shows which limit moves: the one set by your income, or the one set by your cash.
Assumptions (defaults from our sources page)
Everything is calculated in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
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- 1 point higher
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- 1 point lower
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- Income limit, per point
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- $100/mo of maintenance is worth
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Calculated estimates from your inputs and the assumptions on the left, not market data or a rate quote.
- Income limit (DTI)
- Cash limit (down payment, closing, reserves)
- Your max: the lower line
- Your target
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Show as a table
Two limits, one budget. Your income sets a ceiling: the price where mortgage, PMI, and the building's monthly charges (plus property tax and insurance for a condo) hit the DTI limit. Your cash sets another: the price where the down payment and closing costs (and for a co-op, the board's post-closing reserves) use up what you have. Your max price is whichever is lower. Each point on the chart is the full co-op or condo calculation, rerun with one number changed.
Rates move the income limit a lot and the cash limit a little. A higher rate means a bigger payment on the same loan, so the income limit drops. The cash limit for a condo doesn't care about the rate at all; for a co-op it moves a bit, because the board's reserve requirement counts months of mortgage payments. If cash is your tighter limit, a rate drop may barely change what you can buy.
Maintenance is a rate in disguise. Lenders and boards count maintenance and common charges dollar for dollar against your income, same as the mortgage. The "worth" tile converts $100/month of charges into the rate change that would cost you the same buying power, which is handy when comparing two buildings at different charge levels.
What it can't see: rate quotes for your credit and loan size, points and buydowns, adjustable-rate loans, or how a building's charges will change. The mortgage-rate default is the Freddie Mac weekly average, not an offer. See how mortgage rates affect NYC affordability, what else moves your number, and the methodology.