Loan Affordability Calculator
Borrow what you can comfortably repay.
See what the bank will lend you versus what you can comfortably afford — the FOIR ceiling and a lifestyle-safe number, side by side, for Home, Car, Personal or Education loans.
Loan type
Your finances
Lifestyle-safe EMI cap as a % of take-home. Bank caps at 50% for home loans.
Loan capacity
Bank ceiling vs Comfort zone
Monthly cash flow
At the comfortable EMI
Affordability snapshot
LiveBank will lend
₹63.38 L
EMI Rs 55,000/mo · FOIR 50%
Based on 8.50% p.a. for 20 years · incl. Rs 5,00,000 down payment
You can comfortably afford
₹35.72 L
EMI Rs 31,000/mo · Comfort FOIR 30%
Based on 8.50% p.a. for 20 years · incl. Rs 5,00,000 down payment
Bank ceiling far above your comfort
The bank will lend up to ₹63.38 L, but comfortably you can absorb only ₹35.72 L. Borrow the smaller number — the 44% gap is your safety buffer.
Sanity check: EMI on affordable loan at 8.50% for 20y ≈ Rs 31,000/mo
Insights
How to strengthen your borrowing plan
Your savings target is 13% of income
Aim for at least 20%. On a Rs 1.2 L income, that is Rs 24 K/month — enough to build a 6-month emergency fund in about 12-18 months.
Bank FOIR would hit 50% at the ceiling
Approvable, but at the bank's ceiling. The recommended ₹35.72 L keeps FOIR at 30% — much safer for rate resets.
Down payment is only 12% of purchase price
Aim for 20%+ down payment. It shortens tenure, cuts total interest, and — especially for car loans — keeps you from being upside-down as the asset depreciates.
Build a 6-month emergency fund first
The single biggest predictor of loan stress is having no liquid buffer. Six months of expenses in a liquid fund lets you absorb a job change, medical event or rate hike without missing an EMI.
About the Loan Affordability Calculator
Eligibility and affordability are different questions, and confusing them is how households end up house-poor. A bank tells you the maximum it is willing to risk; affordability is the number that leaves your life intact — emergency fund untouched, retirement contributions continuing, and enough slack that a job change or a repo-rate reset doesn't become a crisis.
This calculator starts from your income, your existing commitments and the cash you have available, and works forward to a property price you can actually carry — including the acquisition costs that never make it into the loan.
Worked example: from a ₹30,000 comfortable EMI to a property budget
- Comfortable EMI
- ₹30,000
- Loan supported (8.6%, 20y)
- ₹34,31,000
- Down payment (20%)
- ₹8,58,000
- Property price supported
- ₹42,89,000
- Stamp duty + registration (~7%)
- ₹3,00,000
- Total cash needed upfront
- ₹11,58,000
Work backwards from what you can genuinely pay. Say ₹30,000 a month is comfortable after rent-equivalent budgeting, SIPs and a buffer. At 8.6% over 20 years, that services a ₹34.31 L loan. With a standard 80% LTV, the property price that fits is about ₹42.89 L and the down payment is ₹8.58 L.
Then come the costs nobody quotes. Stamp duty and registration run 5–8% depending on the state — call it ₹3 L here. Add MODT charges, a 0.5% processing fee, legal and technical verification, and property insurance, and the realistic cash requirement before you get keys is ₹11.5–12 L, not ₹8.58 L. Households that budget only for the down payment end up funding the shortfall with a personal loan at 14% — the worst possible outcome, and a common one.
There is also the ongoing side. Maintenance, society charges, property tax and a repairs sinking fund typically add ₹4,000–8,000 a month on a flat this size. A ₹30,000 EMI is really a ₹36,000 housing cost. Budget the housing cost, not the EMI.
How it’s calculated
Property price = (Affordable EMI → Loan principal) ÷ LTV; Cash needed = Down payment + duties + fees
The tool converts your affordable monthly outflow into a principal by inverting the EMI formula at the rate and tenure you set, then divides by the loan-to-value ratio to reach a property price. It treats the down payment and acquisition costs as separate cash requirements rather than folding them into the loan, because lenders will not finance stamp duty or registration.
Where affordability diverges from eligibility is the input. Eligibility uses the bank's FOIR ceiling; affordability should use your own — which for most households means keeping the housing EMI at or under 30–35% of net income, with six months of expenses already parked in an emergency fund before the purchase, not after it.
Factors that affect what you can afford
Cash on hand versus down payment needed
The binding constraint for most first-time buyers isn't income, it's liquid savings — and the requirement is the down payment plus 7–9% of property value in duties and fees.
LTV slab
Lenders fund up to 90% below ₹30 L, 80% between ₹30–75 L and 75% above. Crossing a slab boundary can raise your cash requirement more than the price increase itself.
Stamp duty in your state
Ranges from about 4% to 8%, with concessions for female buyers in several states. On a ₹43 L property that is a ₹1.7 L swing.
Ongoing ownership cost
Maintenance, society dues, property tax and repairs typically add 10–25% on top of the EMI. Model the housing cost, not the instalment.
Emergency fund and job stability
Six months of expenses should survive the purchase intact. If the down payment empties the buffer, the property is unaffordable regardless of what the EMI says.
Floating-rate headroom
Stress-test the EMI at 150 bps above today's rate. If it stops being comfortable, you are buying at the top of your capacity, not inside it.
Next: check the number a lender will actually sanction
Once you know the property price that fits your life, confirm the bank agrees. Affordability and eligibility rarely land on the same figure — existing EMIs, age, income type and credit score can all pull the sanction below what your budget supports, and occasionally push it well above.
The Loan Eligibility Calculator applies the FOIR maths lenders use so you can see both numbers side by side and plan against the lower one.
Common mistakes
- Budgeting for the down payment and forgetting stamp duty, registration, MODT and processing fees — another 7–9% of property value in cash.
- Treating the bank's maximum sanction as the buying budget.
- Emptying the emergency fund to close the down payment gap.
- Ignoring maintenance, society charges and property tax, which add 10–25% to the true monthly cost.
- Not stress-testing the EMI against a 150 bps rate rise on a floating loan.
- Funding the shortfall with a personal loan at 14% because the cash requirement was underestimated.
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Understand every number
Bank Eligibility vs Recommended Affordability
Bank Eligibility is the maximum loan a lender will sanction using FOIR (typically 40-50% of take-home). Recommended Affordability is what fits YOUR life — after rent/food/school-fees, existing EMIs, and a monthly savings target. The gap between the two is the buffer that keeps you out of stress.
Why the 40 percent rule matters
Regulators and most Indian banks cap total EMIs at 40-55% of take-home. Above 40% you have almost no room for savings, insurance renewals, or a rate reset — the loan starts running your life instead of the other way around.
Include a monthly savings target
Financially healthy borrowers save at least 20% of take-home before considering an EMI. Enter your target and this calculator subtracts it BEFORE computing the affordable EMI — so the number you see already respects your savings goal.
Emergency fund first
Aim for 6 months of expenses in liquid savings BEFORE taking any big loan. This is the single biggest predictor of whether a loan becomes stressful during a job change, medical event, or rate hike.
How tenure changes affordability
A longer tenure lowers each EMI, which raises both eligibility and affordability. But total lifetime interest grows sharply — a 30-year home loan pays roughly 50% more interest than the same loan over 20 years. Use the shortest tenure you can absorb.
Understand the math behind this calculator
Frequently asked
Eligibility is the maximum a bank will lend you using its FOIR cap (40-55% of take-home). Affordability is the loan size that fits your real monthly budget once rent/food/school fees, existing EMIs, and a savings target are subtracted. Banks care about default risk; affordability cares about your quality of life. This calculator shows both side by side.
Because eligibility ignores your lifestyle. A bank will happily lend at a 50% FOIR ceiling, but that leaves no room for savings, insurance renewals or emergencies. Recommended Affordability applies a stricter 30% comfort FOIR and subtracts your expenses and savings target — the number you can live with, not just qualify for.
The Recommended Affordability figure. Borrowing to the eligibility ceiling is what turns a manageable EMI into a stressful one after a rate reset, a bonus miss or a family emergency. If the Recommended amount is smaller than what you want, extend tenure or raise your down payment — don't stretch FOIR.
Yes. Pick the loan type at the top and the default rate, tenure and FOIR cap update to that product's typical values. Home loans default to a 50% FOIR and 20-year tenure; personal loans to 45% and 4 years; car loans to 45% and 5 years; education loans to 40% and 10 years.
Yes. Different lenders cap FOIR at different levels — SBI and HDFC often go up to 55% for premium salary segments, while conservative banks stay at 40%. The 'Comfort FOIR' selector lets you tighten to 25-30% if you want a bigger cushion.
Enter it in the down payment field and the Affordable Purchase number shows the total on-road price you can support — loan amount plus your down payment. A higher down payment shortens tenure, cuts total interest, and pushes you further into 'comfortable' territory.
Take-home income minus your entered monthly expenses, minus existing EMIs, minus the new EMI. If the number is negative or thin, you're borrowing beyond your comfort zone — even if the bank will still approve.
Yes. The Download PDF button generates a branded EMI360 Affordability Report with your inputs, the side-by-side Bank vs Comfortable numbers, monthly cash-flow breakdown, and personalised recommendations.
No. Every calculation runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, stored, or shared.
Eligibility Calculator answers 'how much will the bank sanction?'. Affordability Calculator answers 'how much SHOULD I take?'. Same universal engine, different lens — use Eligibility for the ceiling, Affordability for the target.