Debt-to-income ratio: Also known as DTI ratio, is a number used by mortgage lenders which is determined by the total of your debt expenses, plus your monthly housing payment, divided by your gross monthly income, and multiplied by 100.

This helps lenders determine affordability based off of their available loan programs, and allows them to estimate how much you can afford to pay monthly for a mortgage.

Lenders typically look for borrowers who pay 28 percent, or less, of their total monthly income on housing, and less than 36 percent of their income on debt payments, according to Investopedia.

If either percentage is on the higher side, and you want to buy a home, you might need to adjust your budget.