How much loan can I get for a given monthly payment?

The instalment, discounted back over the term at the loan rate. At 9% over 20 years each 1,000 of monthly payment supports about 111,000 of loan; at 20 years and 12% it supports about 90,800. The rate matters more than most borrowers expect.

Should I borrow the maximum a payment supports?

It leaves nothing for a rate rise on a floating loan, where lenders typically hold the instalment and extend the term instead. Borrowing to a payment you could still afford at two points higher is the usual guard against that.

Finance & Loansloans

Reverse EMI Calculator

Start from the EMI you can afford and work backwards to the loan it supports. This is the question most borrowers actually have, and most calculators make you guess at it.

Also called: how much loan can i get, loan amount from emi, affordability from emi.

Loan you can borrow

$71,509

An EMI of $500 over 30 years at 7.5% supports a loan of about $71,509. You would repay $180,000.00 in total.

Total repayment

$180,000.00

Total interest

$108,491.19

How this is calculated

An estimate, not an offer or a guarantee. Projected returns assume the rate you entered holds for the whole term, which no market does.

Method and background

This is what the calculation gives for the numbers you entered. It is an estimate, not advice, and it knows nothing about your situation beyond those numbers. Rules for United States change on a published schedule; the effective date is shown on every rule-based tool.

How this is calculated

The annuity formula rearranged for P. Everything else is identical. Same rate, same term, same reducing balance. Working backwards is useful because an affordable monthly payment is a fact about your budget, while a loan amount is only a consequence of it.

P = E * ((1+i)^n - 1) / (i * (1+i)^n)

E: The equal periodic instalment (currency)
P: Principal: the amount borrowed (currency)
i: Monthly interest rate = annual rate ÷ 12 ÷ 100 (decimal)
n: Total number of monthly instalments (months)

Full derivation: The annuity payment, derived from scratch

Worked examples

Each of these is asserted on every build. If a change to the engine ever moved one of these answers, the build would fail before the page could print it.

US $2,634.42 at 6.9% for 30 years

EMI you can afford: $2,634.40
Interest rate (per year): 6.9%
Tenure: 30 years

Loan you can borrow$400,000

inverse of PMT(6.9%/12, 360, -400000); must round-trip to the principal

Open this example

Method and limits

What it assumes

Interest compounds monthly on the reducing balance.
The rate stays fixed for the whole term. Floating-rate loans reset periodically.
Processing fees, insurance and statutory charges are excluded.

What it deliberately does not model

A lender will also apply an income multiple and a loan-to-value cap, either of which may bind before this figure does.
Does not model rate resets on floating-rate loans. Most lenders hold the instalment steady and extend the term instead, so a rate rise can add years without changing what leaves your account each month.
Does not include property insurance, maintenance or association dues, or any lender fee.
Assumes every instalment is paid in full and on time.

Formula version 1.0.0 · definition 1.0.0 · United States · Report a problem with this calculator

Frequently asked questions

How much loan can I get for a given monthly payment?: The instalment, discounted back over the term at the loan rate. At 9% over 20 years each 1,000 of monthly payment supports about 111,000 of loan; at 20 years and 12% it supports about 90,800. The rate matters more than most borrowers expect.
Should I borrow the maximum a payment supports?: It leaves nothing for a rate rise on a floating loan, where lenders typically hold the instalment and extend the term instead. Borrowing to a payment you could still afford at two points higher is the usual guard against that.