[cheald]

That suggests to me that your existing debt-to-income ratio is too high. The conventional limit lenders will consider is a 36% pre-tax debt-to-income, including mortgage obligations. If a lender won't consider more than $175k, that suggests you probably have substantial existing debt obligations. If you don't, ask around to find another lender. Realtors generally have brokers they work with and recommend.

[stillbourne]

I don't know how to make the calculation that you are describing.

[cheald]

Add up all your monthly debt service obligations (credit cards, student loans, car payment, etc - use the minimum payment). This is your current debt obligation.

Your pretax monthly income is $5833. 36% of that is $2100. The maximum a lender will loan you will result in a monthly payment of ($2100 - your current debt obligation).

For example, if you have $1k/mo in debt service, you have $1100 margin left in your debt-to-income ratio for a mortgage. At 4%, that's a maximum mortgage amount of roughly $145k.

If you have all $2100 to allocate to the mortgage, that allows a mortgage in the $300k range, varying with property tax and insurance rates.

https://www.bankrate.com/calculators/mortgages/new-house-cal... is a handy tool for figuring out how much mortgage you can afford. https://usmortgagecalculator.org/ is another good resource.