Seattle Homebuyer Budget Worksheet

Seattle homebuyer budget worksheet

Work through it in order. It takes about 10 minutes with a recent paystub and two or three months of bank and card statements. Each line can be monthly, every two weeks, twice a month, weekly or yearly, and the worksheet converts it to a monthly amount. Your entries are saved only in this browser. Nothing is sent to me or anyone else unless you choose to send it.

How do I use this homebuyer budget worksheet?

Here is what that looks like in practice. Set aside 10 minutes, open your last paystub and your bank and card statements, and go in order:

1. Start with take-home pay, not salary. Use the deposit amount from your paystub. Biweekly pay means 26 paychecks a year, so a household paid every two weeks has two months a year with a third paycheck. The worksheet does that math for you.
2. Use real numbers from your statements. Two or three months of bank and card statements tell the truth about groceries, dining out and subscriptions. A guess is almost always low.
3. Catch the yearly costs. Car tabs, an auto policy billed twice a year, holidays, memberships and summer travel are monthly costs in disguise. Enter them as yearly and the worksheet spreads them out.
4. Pay yourself first. Put your savings goals in before you look at housing. A house that leaves nothing for retirement or an emergency fund is a house that owns you.
5. Add the costs renters do not see. Water, sewer, garbage and higher heating bills start on the day you get the keys.
6. Pick your breathing room and enter your quoted rate. The price range step needs the rate from your own quote. Then try the “Test a specific home” box on any listing you are watching.

Why your home buying budget comes before your approval

I have spent more than 25 years closing loans around Puget Sound, and I do not sell, I educate. The buyers who love their homes five years later are rarely the ones who borrowed to the top of their approval. They are the ones who picked a payment that left room for the rest of their life.

Lenders qualify you with a debt-to-income ratio, or DTI: your total monthly debt payments, including the new house payment, divided by your gross monthly income. Many conventional loans allow a total DTI in the mid-40s, and automated underwriting may approve some borrowers up to 50%. FHA guidelines can sometimes go higher. The CFPB’s explanation of DTI is a good plain-language read.

Because DTI uses income before taxes and ignores your living costs, an approval can land well above what feels comfortable. That gap tends to be widest in Seattle, where childcare, commuting and daily costs run high.

Illustrative example: a Ballard couple earning $200,000 a year

Illustrative only, to show how the two views differ. Not a quote, an approval or a payment promise. Your income, costs and loan program will change every line.

That is a gap of about $2,670 a month. Both numbers are real. One tells you what a loan program may allow; the other tells you what your life can carry. I want you to choose with both in front of you, and I encourage you to plan from the second one.

What does owning cost in Seattle that renting does not?

Rent is one check. Owning is a handful of bills, and some of them never show up for renters. Here is what changes when you buy in Seattle:

• Property tax. For planning, I use about 0.91% of the price per year across King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. Your real bill depends on the assessed value and the taxing districts for that parcel, so we pull the actual bill before you offer. The Seattle mortgage calculator breaks this down.
• Homeowners insurance. It replaces renters insurance and costs more, because it covers the building, not just your things. Condo owners carry a smaller HO-6 policy.
• Water, sewer and garbage. Many apartment rents include them. When you own a house, Seattle Public Utilities bills you directly, and the city lists a typical 2026 residential sewer bill of about $87 a month on its own (Seattle sewer rates), before water and garbage.
• Heat and power. A house heats more space than an apartment. Expect a bigger Seattle City Light or PSE bill, especially in an older home.
• Maintenance. A common planning range is 1% to 2% of the home’s value each year. Craftsman homes from the 1910s through the 1940s in Ballard, Wallingford and Beacon Hill tend to sit toward the top of that range.
• HOA dues. Common for condos on Capitol Hill and in South Lake Union, and for many newer townhomes. Lenders count them in your payment when you qualify.

Try a payment test drive

Here is a habit I give every renter. For three months, on the first of the month, move the difference between your rent and your planned payment into savings. If it feels fine, you have proof the payment works. If it pinches, you learned that before signing anything, and the money you set aside goes toward your closing costs in King County.

Budgeting for a Seattle home with RSUs, bonuses or two incomes

Many of my clients work at Amazon, Microsoft, Google and the companies around South Lake Union and downtown Bellevue. RSUs and bonuses can be a large share of pay, and they move with the stock price and the vesting calendar. My suggestion: build the monthly payment on base pay, and let RSUs and bonuses fund reserves, extra principal or the next goal. That is why the worksheet leaves bonus and RSU income out unless you check the box.

Lenders may count RSU and bonus income too, typically with a documented history and a vesting schedule that continues. The rules vary by loan program. My answer to whether RSU income can qualify for a mortgage walks through what underwriters look for.

If two of you are buying, ask what happens if one income pauses for parental leave or a job change. Run the worksheet once with both take-home amounts and once with one, and see where the payment lands. This is general information, not tax advice; RSU taxes and withholding are worth a conversation with a tax professional.

Seattle homebuyer budget questions

Seattle tools and guides that go with this worksheet