DTI (Debt-to-Income Ratio)

Your monthly debt payments divided by gross monthly income. The primary qualification metric for most mortgage programs.

DTI measures your ability to repay. Front-end DTI is housing payment (PITIA) ÷ gross monthly income. Back-end DTI adds all other monthly debts (cars, credit cards, student loans). Conventional loans typically cap back-end DTI at 45-50%; FHA goes to 55%+ in some scenarios. Self-employed borrowers calculate income from tax returns (or via bank statement programs that skip the DTI math).