{"id":114,"date":"2026-10-04T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brysonreidhomefinancing.com\/blog\/?p=114"},"modified":"2026-10-04T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T16:00:00","slug":"the-25-rule-caps-mortgage-payments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brysonreidhomefinancing.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/04\/the-25-rule-caps-mortgage-payments\/","title":{"rendered":"The 25% Rule Caps Mortgage Payments"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"video-zmyer\">\n<div class=\"video-frame-zmyer\">\n        <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/www.roomvu.com\/agent\/embed\/bryson-3\/dave-ramsey-homebuying-remotion-videos-df5c\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><br \/>\n        <\/iframe>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"video-description-zmyer\">\n<p>One of the most practical guidelines I share with clients\u2014especially those feeling overwhelmed by the numbers\u2014is the 25% rule for mortgage payments. This approach suggests keeping your monthly mortgage payment at or below 25% of your take-home pay. For example, if you take home $5,000 each month, your target mortgage payment would be around $1,250. Based on the current average U.S. take-home pay of about $4,900, that cap is close to $1,200 per month. That translates to a home budget under $120,000, which is quite a bit lower than today\u2019s median sale price of approximately $435,500.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve seen how this rule can help buyers avoid becoming house-poor\u2014leaving enough room for savings, travel, unexpected repairs, upgrades, and all the other costs that come with owning a home. Of course, there are tradeoffs: you might have fewer options, compromise on space, or need to widen your search area. It can also mean planning for a larger down payment or waiting a bit longer to buy. But for those who want a clear path to sustainable ownership, the 25% rule remains a solid benchmark. My job is to break down these strategies so you can make informed, confident choices\u2014no matter where you are in your homeownership journey.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most practical guidelines I share with clients\u2014especially those feeling overwhelmed by the numbers\u2014is the 25% rule for mortgage payments. This approach suggests keeping your monthly mortgage payment at or below 25% of your take-home pay. For example, if you take home $5,000 each month, your target mortgage payment would be around $1,250. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brysonreidhomefinancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brysonreidhomefinancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brysonreidhomefinancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brysonreidhomefinancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brysonreidhomefinancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.brysonreidhomefinancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128,"href":"https:\/\/www.brysonreidhomefinancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions\/128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brysonreidhomefinancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brysonreidhomefinancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brysonreidhomefinancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brysonreidhomefinancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}