This House Fits
Housing numbers without the sales pitch
PITI vs cash left
PITI is the housing payment a lender counts. Cash left is what remains of take-home after that payment, your other debts, and normal life. One can look fine while the other does not.
What PITI includes
Principal and Interest are the loan itself.
Taxes are property tax, usually collected monthly into escrow.
Insurance is homeowners insurance, also often escrowed.
On many loans you also pay HOA dues and PMI when the down payment is under 20%. This House Fits folds those into the housing stack even if people skip the letters in “PITI.”
What cash left is
Cash left starts from the deposit that hits the bank. It subtracts the full housing stack (P&I, tax, insurance, HOA, PMI), then the debts you listed, living costs, and maintenance if you turned that on.
PITI does not know about groceries. Cash left does, if you typed living costs. That is the whole split.
A simple picture
Say P&I is $2,200, tax $400, insurance $150, HOA $0, PMI $180. Housing is $2,930. A lender may call that acceptable under a DTI cap built from pretax income.
If take-home is $6,200, debts $800, and living costs $2,400, cash left is $6,200 − $2,930 − $800 − $2,400. That leftover is the test for whether the month still works. The PITI figure alone never showed it.
How to use both
- Read PITI as the housing bill, not the whole budget.
- If down payment is under 20%, include PMI in the housing stack. It is part of the monthly bill until you have 20% equity. It is not a living cost and not cash left.
- Maintenance is not PITI. Banks do not underwrite the water heater. Check the box if you want cash left to be honest.
Related: take-home vs lender · 28/36 rule
Estimate only. Not a lender, pre-approval, or financial advice. Confirm numbers before you make an offer.