Debt-to-income, in plain English

Take your gross monthly income — what you earn before taxes and deductions. Take your total monthly debt payments, including the projected mortgage payment on the home you want to buy. Compare the two.

That comparison is your debt-to-income. It is expressed as a proportion, and it is one of the clearest signals a lender has about whether a payment will be comfortable for you or a stretch.

This is the part people find hardest to accept. Someone can have excellent credit and still be limited in what they can borrow, because their existing monthly obligations are high relative to their income.

It makes sense when you think about it. A spotless payment history shows you pay what you owe. It does not show that you could absorb another payment comfortably. Both matter, and they are different questions.

There are only two things you can change: your obligations and your income. Most people focus entirely on the first, and that is usually the faster one.

Reducing a monthly obligation changes the calculation immediately. A card balance brought down reduces the minimum payment. A car paid off removes a payment entirely. These are the moves that most often change what is available to you.

I would rather you know your own number than a rule of thumb, because the useful answer is specific to you. And I would rather you hear it early, when there is time to act, than at the end of an application.

It is also worth saying plainly: this is not a test you pass or fail. It is a description of where you are right now, and where you are right now can change.