How much house can I afford on $300k income? (single)
Claire, 35, in Boston, MA
exampleSingle, no kids · $300k/yr household income
They're renting in Boston and ready to buy their first place, without becoming house-poor.
Claire earns $300,000 a year in Boston and wants to buy her first home without gutting her financial life. The engine says she can afford $850,000 today, but the more interesting number is what happens in two years.
The setup
Age
35
Household income
$300,000/yr
Household
Single earner
Liquid savings
$132,000
Retirement savings
$396,000
Down payment
33–35%
Mortgage
6.5%, 30-yr fixed
Investing return
7%/yr
Wait 2 years and your $1,200,000 target becomes reachable
$1,250,000
Max home in 2028, $400,000 more than today's $850,000
Max Home Now
$850,000
Max in 2yr
$1,250,000
Target Price
$1,200,000
Liquid Assets
$132,000
The binding constraint isn't Claire's income. It's her $132,000 in liquid savings, the only pool that can actually fund a down payment and closing costs while keeping the required cash reserve intact. Retirement accounts, even a healthy $396,000 worth, aren't readily available for this without meaningful trade-offs. Wait two years, let liquid savings build, and the max home jumps from $850,000 to $1,250,000, putting her $1,200,000 target comfortably in reach.
Your max home today is $850,000. By waiting 2 years, your max grows to $1,250,000, an additional $400,000 in buying power from savings and income growth.
| Scenario | Buy Year | Price | Down % | Monthly PITI | Cash Left | Retire NW | Retirement Feasible | Max Home |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Now | 2026 | Keep renting | — | — | — | $24,657,632 ($10M in today's dollars) | Secure | $850,000 |
| 2yr | 2028 | $1,200,000 | 33% | $6,661 | $109,472 | $19,660,574 ($8.1M in today's dollars) | Secure | $1,250,000 |
| 5yr | 2031 | $1,200,000 | 35% | $6,545 | $627,778 | $21,222,663 ($8.7M in today's dollars) | Secure | $1,380,000 |
| 10yr | 2036 | $1,200,000 | 35% | $6,537 | $1,884,004 | $22,805,539 ($9.4M in today's dollars) | Secure | $1,600,000 |
Your max price is usually limited by CASH, not by what a lender would approve. We hold back $63,966 as a 6-month reserve, and require 5% down, so that cash cannot go toward the purchase. A lender would often approve more. This scenario carries mortgage insurance of about $572/mo, which is included in the payment and drops off at 20% equity. Programs like FHA allow smaller down payments and would raise these figures, but they add premiums we do not model, so we stay deliberately conservative. Home ownership also involves lifestyle factors no spreadsheet captures.
The gap between house-poor and house-right is often just the savings runway, so model your own numbers and see exactly how long yours is.
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Get my verdict →Frequently asked
How much house can a single household earning $300k afford?
Wait 2 years and your $1,200,000 target becomes reachable
Max home in 2028, $400,000 more than today's $850,000
$1,250,000, modeled with Rightmont's projection engine for this exact scenario.
How was this calculated?
Rightmont runs your numbers through a year-by-year projection engine (taxes, compounding, Social Security, and your real cashflow) to model the outcome. Model your own version free in under a minute.
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For educational purposes only, not financial advice.