Can I afford a ₹90.0 L house on ₹1.5 L a month?
No — not on these numbers.
- EMIs at 42% of take-home. Above the ~40% net equivalent of the 36% rule.
- Housing would eat 47% of take-home. The rule caps it near 35%.
- At this price a lender can fund only 75%. You'd need at least 25% down, not 20%.
- Leaves under a month of buffer. One bad month and you're borrowing.
The numbers
| Down payment20% upfront | ₹18.0 L |
| Monthly EMI42% of take-home · 20 years at 9% | ₹62,483 |
| Interest to the bankOver the full tenure | ₹78.0 L |
| Running costsUpkeep, insurance, dues | ₹7,500/mo |
| Emergency buffer afterDown from 6.0 mo | 0.0 mo |
| Cost by age 60Net worth you give up | ₹12.39 Cr |
At ₹1.5 L a month you would end up with ₹32.91 Cr by 60 with this house, against ₹45.30 Cr without it.
What this breaks
- Total debt load
EMIs at 42% of take-home. Above the ~40% net equivalent of the 36% rule.
The 36% debt rule (Elizabeth Warren, All Your Worth), converted to Indian lenders' FOIR on net income
- The 28% housing rule
Housing would eat 47% of take-home. The rule caps it near 35%.
The 28/36 mortgage underwriting rule, standard since the 1980s
- Room for error
A 2% rate rise adds ₹9,400/month, taking EMIs to 48%. Little slack left.
Morgan Housel, The Psychology of Money — plan so the plan survives being wrong
- RBI loan-to-value cap
At this price a lender can fund only 75%. You'd need at least 25% down, not 20%.
RBI norms: lenders may fund at most 90% up to ₹30L, 80% to ₹75L, 75% above
- Three to six months of buffer
Leaves under a month of buffer. One bad month and you're borrowing.
Bogleheads and Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps 1 and 3
- The 50/30/20 savings floor
Savings rate falls to 8%, under the 20% floor.
Elizabeth Warren, All Your Worth
Your numbers are not these numbers
This page assumes a great deal about your expenses, savings and existing loans. Enter your own and get the answer for your actual situation.
Run your own numbersWhat this page assumed
You told us one number. Everything else had to be assumed, so here is exactly what was taken for granted:
- Monthly expenses set to 45% of take-home
- Six months of expenses held as an emergency buffer
- One year of take-home already invested
- No existing loan EMIs, and age 32