Amount You Can Borrow Based on Income and Credit Score

Many people, especially those with bad credit, may be willing to pay a large amount each month but lenders will only approve loans based on what borrowers can afford to pay.

The main thing lenders look at is your debt to income ratio (DTI), the percentage of your monthly gross income that goes toward paying debts.

Lenders like to see a DTI ratio of 40% or less, which means if you bring in $5,000 of income each month, your debt payments should be no more than $2,000.

Debt includes any installment loans such as car payments, student loans or personal loans, plus any rent or mortgage payments. It also includes your minimum monthly credit card payments. Normal expenses such as groceries and utility bills are not included as part of your debt.

In general, here is how lenders view your DTI ratio:

If you have an excellent credit score and a decent level of disposable income, then your DTI ratio won't really matter. People with higher than average income ($7,000 + per month), those with disposable incomes of at least $3,000 per month, and those with very large down payments of 50% or more won't have to worry much about the amount they can borrow.

On the other hand, if your credit isn't that great and you have a lot of debt, then you really need to figure out what kind of payment you're likely to qualify for.

Here's a quick guide to the kind of loans you're likely to qualify for based on credit score and income.

What you need to do is first check your credit score, then get a financing quote from online providers to see what kind of payment you qualify for.

You can then compare that figure to the charts above to make sure you're within the acceptable range. If you're not able to borrow as much money as the charts indicate, you may have some errors in your credit report (See: How to Fix Errors in Your Credit Report).