≈ $60,000 down
Ongoing housing costs
PMI is included below since the down payment is under 20%.
Estimated total
$2,336/mo
$2,194 payment + $142 PMI
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By Alex Diaz · How we calculate this
Most townhouses come with a homeowners association attached, and that means a monthly fee on top of whatever you're paying the bank - usually covering shared exterior maintenance, landscaping, and insurance on the common areas. Enter the price, down payment, rate, and term, and this works out the resulting mortgage payment, then checks it against your income to gauge how much risk you'd be taking on.
These key factors affect townhouse affordability
Income and expenses
Nothing about a mortgage payment happens in isolation. It has to share your budget with whatever else you owe, so we weigh the townhouse payment against your income alongside every other debt you've logged - the full picture, not just the new number on its own.
Credit score
Credit score works exactly the same way here as it would for a single-family home or a condo - a stronger score gets you a better rate, and a better rate is a lower payment every month for the life of the loan.
HOA fees
HOA dues are the part of townhouse ownership that's easy to underestimate, because they're not baked into the mortgage number at all. They cover shared exterior maintenance and often landscaping too, and they're a real bill every single month, not a one-off - fold them into your housing budget from the start rather than treating them as pocket change on the side.
Down payment and loan term
Two levers, two different effects: a bigger down payment shrinks the loan itself, while a longer term shrinks the monthly payment without shrinking what you'll pay in total - it just spreads more interest over more years.
Property taxes and insurance
Property taxes and homeowners insurance sit on top of principal and interest, and how much they add depends entirely on where you're buying - property tax rates alone can run several times higher in one state than another. If you're house-hunting somewhere with a reputation for high property taxes, pad your estimate accordingly rather than budgeting off the mortgage payment alone.
How to use your results
Try adjusting the inputs to see what actually moves your risk score:
- Down payment and loan term - see how each moves your monthly payment and risk score.
- HOA fees - add these to get a true sense of the total monthly cost, not just the loan payment.
- Existing debt - add what you're already carrying for a more realistic picture.
Ways to increase how much townhouse you can afford
- Pay down existing debt to improve your debt-to-income ratio before applying for a mortgage.
- Work on your credit score - even a modest improvement can unlock a meaningfully better rate.
- Save for a larger down payment to borrow less and potentially avoid mortgage insurance.
- Check HOA dues before you fall in love with a specific unit, since they vary a lot between communities.
More housing calculators
Peer comparison data
Bureau of Labor Statistics (median income by age), Experian (credit score by age)
Used by the “how you compare” figures in the sidebar, not by the costs on this page.
Every figure on this site, with its source and the date it was last verified
How you compare
Income
Credit score
Nothing added yet - add something to see your risk.