what is a desirable front end dti ratio 
to qualify for a mortgage the borrower often must have a front end debt to income ratio of less than an indicated level paying bills on time having a stable income and having a good credit score won t necessarily qualify you for a mortgage loan in the mortgage lending world how far you are from financial ruin is measured by your dti simply put this is a comparison of your housing expenses and your monthly debt obligations versus how much you earn higher ratios tend to increase the likelihood of default on a mortgage for example in 2009 many homeowners had front end dtis that were significantly higher than average and consequently mortgage defaults began to rise in 2009 the government introduced loan modification programs in an attempt to get front end dtis below 31 3lenders usually prefer a front end dti of no more than 28 1 in reality depending on your credit score savings and down payment lenders may accept higher ratios although it depends on the type of mortgage loan however the back end dti is actually considered more important by many financial professionals for mortgage loan applications the maximum acceptable dti for qualified mortgages is 43 4front end dti vs back end dtithe main difference between front end debt to income ratio and debt to income ratio is how the two are calculated with the front end dti calculations are based solely on your housing expenses the back end dti however takes into account other financial obligations including back end debt to income ratio is more comprehensive in that it takes into all of your debt payments beyond housing a good back end dti ratio is typically no more than 33 to 36 1back end debt to income ratio can be used to qualify borrowers for other loans beyond mortgages including personal loans auto loans and private student loans 