How much is too much to spend on a home?

No, this has nothing to do with Beauty and the Beast; it’s an old story.

The subject of how much to budget for a home is a perennial one. Without stringent guidelines, the answer may appear intimidating and difficult in a pricey market like Greater Boston.

The first piece of advice is to control your expectations early on to prevent getting ahead of yourself when you’re experiencing online listing wanderlust.

According to Kara Ng, a senior economist at Zillow, purchasing a home is an extremely emotional process. I try to have the figures in front of me before looking at houses, although this may just be a matter of personality.

What might the figures be? Experts utilize a general percentage band, albeit this depends on who you question.

The so-called 28/36 rule, according to Rocket Mortgage, states that purchasers should spend no more than 28 percent of their pre-tax income on housing costs and 36 percent of their total pre-tax income on debt, including monthly credit card bills, student loan and auto loan payments, and mortgages.

In a same vein, Fidelity suggests that purchasers keep their monthly debt payments to no more than 36% of their income.

According to those interviewed for this piece, it’s a good idea to limit monthly housing expenses to about 30% of monthly income.

“We consider a household cost-burdened if they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing,” Ng stated.

However, other aspects are involved. Although 30 percent may be the ideal percentage to control expenses, the current state of the economy is unpredictable. According to J.P. Morgan researchers, the likelihood of a recession has decreased from 60% early this year to 40%, but tariffs may have a bigger effect.

This implies that having emergency money on hand is particularly crucial in the event of unplanned layoffs and a loss of consistent income.

According to Redfin chief economist Darryl Fairweather, people should think about whether they can afford the down payment and monthly mortgage and still have money left over for emergency reserves in the event that they lose their jobs due to a recession. Individuals should always be ready for a period of difficult economic conditions.

However, remember that in a market like Greater Boston, the advise that takes about 30 percent of income might be rather heavy.

Zillow calculated last year that, in order to comfortably purchase a typical property under the 30 percent rule, a median-income household in major US cities would need to put down 35.4%.

However, for someone earning about $100,000 annually, it would require a down payment of 61.7 percent, or $604,660, in Greater Boston, where the average home value is $980,000.

According to Ng, a new homeowner in Boston who makes the typical local wage and puts down a 20% down payment would have to spend over half of their monthly income on maintenance, taxes, insurance, and a mortgage. The median household cannot afford the homes in [Greater] Boston.

When Boston’s younger, frequently recent college graduates enter the home-buying market, they face a number of challenges.

Those who are lucky enough to graduate debt-free may not have any credit history, which makes it more difficult to secure a mortgage. In order to demonstrate to a bank that a buyer is less of a loan risk, Zillow advises making a down payment of at least 20% or paying in cash. Remember: The down payment advice for persons without credit is more than met by the 61.7 percent down payment that would be needed locally to comply with the 30 percent regulation.

In a similar vein, those with weak credit are also encouraged to contribute more to a down payment; however, Zillow pointed out that lower credit scores frequently translate into higher fees and interest rates to counteract the risk banks perceive this borrower to be carrying.

In Greater Boston, a stronghold of higher education, many prospective buyers also have student loan debt, which reduces their amount of disposable income for a home purchase. In addition, there are expenses related to a house that are not covered by a mortgage, such as taxes, insurance, maintenance, and potential homeowners association dues.

In order to prevent becoming cost-burdened, Fairweather and Ng suggested that the roughly 30% guideline about housing costs to income should take into account all housing expenses, not only the mortgage. Remember that the other related housing expenditures are changeable, in contrast to a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, whose rates are now about 6.77 percent.

According to Fairweather, everything else, including upkeep and HOA dues, may increase over time.

With so much to consider, there are technological tools available to assist buyers in determining the amount of a home they can afford in the present market.Both Redfin and Realtor.com have affordability calculators that allow you to enter your desired debt-to-income ratio and personal financial information before displaying a selection of nearby houses that fit your budget.

An improved version of the many affordability calculators available is Zillow’s BuyAbilitytool, which links a person’s financial circumstances to current mortgage rates and modifies its suggested listings in response to changes in rates and individual financial circumstances.

These methods can be helpful during a period of market instability, but they are also worth taking into account, according to experts like Ng and Fairweather. This is particularly true in a market with limited supply, like Greater Boston, where price relief is uncommon due to strong demand.

Now is a great moment to purchase a home if you believe you can afford it. “I don’t think buying a home is going to get more affordable going forward,” Fairweather said, adding that any possible respite in housing prices amid economic uncertainty would only last a short while.

Perhaps there will be one year when prices drop by 1% to 2%, and then the following year, they will begin to rise once more, Fairweather continued. For this reason, you will most likely be better off owning than renting in the long run, say more than five years.