Aside from the debt, lenders are also looking at your "debt-to-income ratio." This is the ratio between how much debt you have to the amount of income you make. For example, if you make $50,000 and you have $10,000 in debt from credit cards, personal loans, etc, then your debt-to-income ratio would be 20 percent. Accordingly, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) requires that your monthly mortgage payment combined with your non-housing debts do not exceed 41 percent. However, the credit reporting bureaus don't reveal how they calculate
credit scores, therefore it is difficult to say exactly how much debt is too much. As a guide, keep your debt-to-income ratio below 41 percent
