House Hunter Shortlist
Enter the homes you are considering and see what each one really costs per month, what repairs are coming, whether the asking price holds up against sold comps, and which one best fits your priorities.
Your finances
Listing details
The three listings shown first are examples. Replace them with real homes, or press Clear examples.Monthly cost, side by side
Everything it costs to live there each month, including repairs and utilities.Full comparison
The best value in each row is shaded.Where each month goes
Can you afford it?
Using common lender limits of 28% for housing and 36% for all debt.What the rate and down payment do
What the numbers say
Repairs and replacements by year
Cost of each system when it reaches the end of its life, in future dollars.Systems in this home
Enter the year each system was last replaced if you know it (the inspection report usually says). Costs are for a 2,000 sq ft home and scale with this home’s size. Edit them to match your area.What the numbers say
Recent sold comps
Enter up to five similar homes that sold nearby. Adjust a comp up if it is nicer than this home and down if it is worse.Price per square foot
Comps are adjusted for how long ago they sold using your price growth setting.What the comps support
Your priorities
Set how much each factor matters to you. Zero ignores it.Ranking
Costs, size, commute and repair risk are scored against the other listings on your shortlist. Neighborhood, layout, schools and gut feeling come from your ratings.Score by factor
Each factor out of 10.Planning tool, not financial, legal, tax or inspection advice. Estimates use the assumptions on this page. Real rates, taxes, insurance, repairs and sale prices will differ, so confirm them with your lender, agent and a licensed inspector before you make an offer.
How to use the House Hunter Shortlist
Put the homes you are looking at side by side and see what each one really costs, what repairs are coming, whether the price is fair, and which one fits you best. It is built for the stage where you have a few favorites and need to choose.
Quick start
Income, savings, budget, down payment and rate. It is the box on the left, or at the top on a phone.
Three made-up homes are there to show how it works. Replace them with up to four real ones.
Compare, Monthly cost, Repairs, Value check and Scorecard each answer a different question.
Press Copy summary to paste the ranking into a message to your partner or agent.
Everything you type is saved in your own browser, so it is still there when you come back. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Your finances
These numbers apply to every home, so fill them in once. Click the “Your finances” header to fold the box away when you are done.
| Group | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Income and cash | Your household income per year, other monthly debt payments, cash saved for the purchase, and your monthly budget for housing in total. Leave the budget at 0 if you do not have one. |
| Loan | Down payment %, mortgage rate, loan length, the PMI rate that applies if you put less than 20% down, and closing costs as a percent of the price. |
| Estimates | Used only when a listing leaves tax, insurance or utilities at 0: property tax and insurance as a percent of price, and utilities per square foot. |
| Ownership | Routine upkeep each year, how fast repair costs rise, how long you plan to stay, price growth and selling costs. These drive the repair forecast and the own-versus-rent result. |
| Renting instead | What you would pay in rent, how fast it rises, and what your cash could earn elsewhere. Used for the “owning versus renting” comparison. |
| Commute | Your cost per mile and days per month. This turns a long commute into a monthly dollar amount. |
Listings
Add the homes you are considering
- Click Clear examples. It is at the bottom of the Listings tab, under the form.
- Click Add a listing and fill in the asking price, size, bedrooms, bathrooms and year built.
- Enter the yearly property tax and insurance, monthly HOA and utilities if the listing shows them. Leave them at 0 and the tool estimates them for you.
- Add the commute in minutes and miles one way.
- Rate the neighborhood, layout and light, schools and your gut feeling from 1 to 10.
The chips above the form switch between homes. Duplicate this listing is handy for testing the same home at a lower price, and Remove this listing deletes the one you are on. You can have up to four.
Compare
All your homes in one view
The top row names the best pick for your priorities, the lowest monthly cost, the lowest price per square foot and the fewest repairs coming. Below it, a bar for each home shows where every monthly dollar goes, and a big table lines up everything side by side: price, monthly cost, cash needed up front, affordability, own-versus-rent and repairs. The best value in each row is shaded.
Monthly cost
What the home really costs each month
Pick a home with the chips. You get the all-in monthly cost, the income you would need, and the cash needed up front. The cost is split into mortgage, tax, insurance, HOA, utilities, upkeep and repair savings, with commute added at the bottom.
- Can you afford it? checks your housing payment and your total debt against the common 28% and 36% lender limits, and tells you if it is within limits, a stretch, or over.
- Highest price at your budget shows the most you could pay for this home and stay inside your monthly budget.
- The rate and down payment grid shows the all-in monthly cost for different down payments and rates. Green cells fit your budget, and your current case is outlined.
- What the numbers say compares owning with renting and gives the break-even year.
Repairs
The bills the listing does not show
Eight big systems are tracked for each home: roof, heating and cooling, water heater, windows, exterior, flooring, appliances, and the driveway, deck and fencing. For each one you can edit the cost, the lifespan, and the year it was last replaced. The tool then forecasts the next 15 years.
- Open the inspection report or listing and enter the replacement year for each system you know.
- Leave the rest blank. They are marked “assumed” so you know which dates are guesses.
- Check the chart for spikes. A year with a huge bar is the year you should have savings ready.
The top row gives the cost due this year, the next 5 years, the next 10 years, and a monthly amount to set aside. Costs are given in future dollars and grow with the repair inflation you set.
Value check
Is the asking price fair?
- Ask your agent for 3 to 5 similar homes that sold nearby in the last few months.
- Enter each comp’s sold price, square feet, and how many months ago it sold.
- Use Adjust % to move a comp up if it is nicer than this home, or down if it is worse.
The tool adjusts each comp for how long ago it sold using your price growth setting, takes the median price per square foot, and gives the value the comps support with a range. The bars compare the asking price with every comp, and the notes say whether the price looks fair, high or low.
Scorecard
Rank the homes by what matters to you
Eight sliders set how much each factor matters, from 0 (ignore it) to 10. Four are scored automatically against the other homes on your list: low monthly cost, price per square foot, short commute and low repair risk. Four come from your ratings: neighborhood, layout and light, schools and gut feeling.
The ranking shows each home’s score out of 100 with its strongest and weakest factor, and the table below shows the score for every factor out of 10.
Worked example
Three example homes, one winner
Using the tool’s example homes (a $465,000 house, a $420,000 house and a $355,000 condo), a 20% down payment and a 6.5% rate, the Compare tab says:
The Maple St house is the largest and has the lowest price per square foot ($211), but it goes over a $3,800 monthly budget by $203 and needs the most cash up front ($106,950). The Value check says its asking price is in line with the comps. The Repairs tab shows $31,487 of repairs over the next 10 years, with the biggest bill, about $33,000, landing in 2037.
The Riverside Condo has the lowest monthly cost, the fewest repairs ($13,193 over 10 years) and the shortest commute, so it ranks first with the default priorities. If you move the sliders to care more about space and less about cost, the ranking can change. That is the point: you decide what matters, and the tool shows what each choice costs.
This guide and the tool are planning tools, not financial, legal, tax or inspection advice. Real rates, taxes, insurance, repairs and sale prices will differ, so confirm them with your lender, agent and a licensed inspector before you make an offer.