Homeownership Planner

FHA vs Conventional eligibility, down payment, and DTI tracker.

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Buying your first home — in plain English

A mortgage is a long-term loan to buy a home. Lenders look at three things: your credit score (how reliably you pay back debt), your DTI (the share of your monthly income that already goes to debt), and your down payment (the cash you bring to closing). FHA loans are friendlier for first-time buyers (3.5% down, lower score floors). Conventional loans cost less long-term once you qualify.

Credit to Keys — the blueprint

The signature roadmap that ties credit, savings, and timeline together.

The full Credit-to-Keys roadmap takes you from current FICO + savings to a closing date you can actually plan for. Run the simulator and save your numbers — they sync to your account so the rest of this module personalizes around your inputs.

Open the Credit-to-Keys roadmap →

FHA vs Conventional eligibility

Quick check against published lending guidelines.

FHA LoanLikely eligible
Conventional LoanLikely eligible

Affordability calculator

Maximum home price based on 43% DTI guideline.

Max home price
$364,484
Loan amount
$346,260
Down cash needed
$18,224
Max housing/mo
$2,596
PITI ceiling

Down payment + closing costs

What you need at the table to close.

Down payment
$17,500
Closing costs
$10,500
Reserves (rec.)
$1,750
2 months PITI
Cash to close
$29,750