35 Percent Rule Of Thumb

Definition of "35 percent rule of thumb"

Paula Somerville real estate agent

Written by

Paula Somervilleelite badge icon

Fairfax Realty Elite

Have you heard someone talking about a 35-percent rule of thumb and you nodded acknowledging but the truth is that you had NO idea what in the world a “35-percent rule of thumb” means?!

We’ve all been there, my friend.

The 35-percent rule of thumb is a calculation practice that lenders make in order to determine the borrower’s risk. Actually, it’s sort of a euphemism to say they’re assessing the risk. The truth is that the 35-percent rule of thumb determines if the borrower can or cannot pay the loan. That’s why it's a “rule” and not an “estimation”. In fact, ever since the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2010, the 35 percent rule of thumb has been upgraded to a law. By law, lenders can’t underwrite the loan unless they can determine the borrower will be able to pay up the loan.

The whole idea behind the 35-percent rule of thumb is this: a borrower can afford no more than 35% of its monthly take-home pay. So, let’s say that borrower Christie has a gross annual income of $50,000 and her take-home pay is $2,095 per month. That would mean that, under the 35-percent rule of thumb, Christie could not afford a monthly payment of $1,300 (35%) or higher, for instance. Usually, the workaround here is asking for a bigger down payment to water down the size of the installments, or extending the mortgage term, and mortgage payment scheduled in a way that it preserves the borrower’s finances and prevents the financial system from collapsing from irresponsible loans that are never paid and increasingly grow interest damaging in the process the economy as a whole.

Real Estate Advice:

Does all of this seem like rocket science to you? Then contact a rocket scientist: they’re called real estate agents and we have some of the best right here at The OFFICIAL Real Estate Agent Directory®

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

Person or business that obtains mortgages for others by finding suitable lenders. The mortgage broker sometimes deals with collections and disbursements. Typically the mortgage broker ...

Rental based on a percent of sales or profit that in addition to the constant rental amount. ...

Alias is a different name by which a person is known.In the real estate world, there are times when an agent goes by a different name than the one he/she was originally named by his/her ...

People say time is money. The old-age cliche applies more than ever in our case as we define what the Time Value of Money (TVM) means.  You’ll find the term time value for money ...

That portion of a loan collaterized by a leased property extending beyond the expiration date of the lease. For example, a lending institution collaterizes a 20-year loan on a commercial ...

making land more beautiful to look at by adding improvements such as lawns, trees, and bushes. Increases the value of the property. ...

Provision in a written agreement that depends on the occurrence of something else. ...

Same as term lateral support: The right of a landowner to have lateral land support from adjacent properties. The right of lateral and subjacent support means that an adjacent land owner ...

Misuse, alteration, destruction, or neglect of land by an individual right-fully in possession that breeds a significant and permanent reduction of its value to the legal interest owned by ...

Popular Real Estate Questions