Housing cost comparison
How does "Can I Afford This?" work?
On any rent or buy listing, tap Can I Afford This? and enter a few private details — your income (monthly or hourly), any family support, savings, and your ideal and maximum monthly housing budget. Dormly shows an estimated monthly cost, an estimated first month, and a clear read: 🟢 Comfortable, 🟡 Stretch, or 🔴 Probably Too Expensive — compared against your own budget, with the reason why. It's budgeting guidance, not financial advice.
How does affordability handle costs like utilities that aren't listed?
It never guesses. Rent is the anchor number. For each other cost, Dormly uses the lister's number if they provided one (labeled "Listing"), otherwise your own estimate if you add one (labeled "Your estimate"), otherwise it shows "Unknown" and does not add it to the total. Every line shows its source, and the result tells you which unknown costs would add to your total — so nothing is hidden.
Does affordability work for homes to buy?
Yes, as a clearly-labeled estimate. For rent listings the monthly cost is exact. For buy listings, Dormly estimates a monthly mortgage payment from assumptions you control — down-payment percent, interest rate, and loan term — and marks every figure as an Estimate. The first-month figure is your down payment; closing costs are shown as unknown. Always confirm real numbers with a lender.
How is the true monthly cost calculated?
True monthly cost starts with the advertised rent (divided by your roommate split if you share) and adds known recurring extras like utilities, internet, parking, pet rent, and HOA. It's plain, deterministic math — no AI. Any cost that isn't known is shown as Unknown and is never quietly counted as $0, so a cheap-looking option with lots of unknowns doesn't fool you. Dormly estimates are planning tools, not financial guarantees.
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