What lenders look at when evaluating a borrower.
Before you apply anywhere, it helps to understand what a lender is actually looking at when they decide how much to offer you and at what rate. Nothing on this page is personalized to you - for an actual estimate based on your own numbers, use the Eligibility Checker or the Loan Strategy Analyzer below.
FOIR — the ratio that caps loan amounts
FOIR (Fixed Obligation to Income Ratio) is the single biggest factor in how much a lender will actually offer. Most banks and NBFCs cap total EMI - existing obligations plus the new loan - at roughly 40-60% of monthly income, with the exact cap depending on income level and credit profile. This is why two applicants earning the same salary can be offered very different loan amounts: the one with fewer existing EMIs has more room under the cap.
Credit profile bands, not a single number
Lenders price risk in bands rather than reacting to a single point on a credit score. A score moving from 740 to 745 rarely changes anything in practice; a score moving from 739 to 750 might cross into a materially different band, with a real difference in the rate offered. The exact band thresholds vary by lender and aren't publicly fixed, but the general principle - that you're being grouped, not measured to the point - holds across most lenders.
Secured vs. unsecured debt exposure
Existing unsecured debt - credit cards, personal loans - is generally weighted more heavily against you than secured debt like an existing home loan, even at the same outstanding amount. The reasoning: secured debt is backed by collateral the lender can recover against, while unsecured debt represents pure repayment risk with nothing behind it. Carrying a large unsecured balance can affect your terms even if your total FOIR looks acceptable on paper.
Income stability, beyond the raw number
Salaried versus self-employed status, tenure at your current employer or vintage of your business, and the quality of your income documentation all factor into how a lender reads "stability" - independent of how much you actually earn. A self-employed applicant with strong, well-documented income over several years is often viewed more favorably than a salaried applicant who recently changed jobs, even at a lower income level.