---
title: "How to Filter Homes Based on Loan Parameters? (B1124-018)"
description: "Filter by what you were approved for, not just by price."
url: https://homes-support.padzilly.com/en/articles/11-how-to-filter-homes-based-on-loan-parameters-b1124-018
collection: "Using Padzilly"
updated: 2026-10-01
language: en
alternates: [es]
---

# How to Filter Homes Based on Loan Parameters? (B1124-018)

Filter by what you were approved for, not just by price.

Most home searches let you filter by price. Padzilly lets you filter by what you were actually approved for, which is a different and much more useful thing.

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### What you need first

**Your loan approval has to be in Padzilly.** Either your loan officer uploaded it, or you entered your own figures when you created your account. Until one of those is true, these filters have nothing to measure against and they stay locked.

If you have a loan officer and they have not uploaded anything yet, invite them. It is the one step that turns Padzilly from a listings site into a qualification tool.

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### The two filters

On the search screen you will find two toggles, sitting together:

**Payment** — show only homes whose full monthly payment fits your approved payment.

**Cash Needed** — show only homes whose cash to close fits the money you actually have.

Turn on either one, or both. With both on, every home left on the screen is a home you could buy on both counts.

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### Why "full payment" matters here

The payment these filters use is not just principal and interest. It includes property taxes, homeowner's insurance, mortgage insurance where your loan requires it, and **any HOA or condo fee**.

That is the difference between this and a price filter. Two homes at $400,000 are the same to a price filter. If one is a condo with a $450 monthly association fee, they are nowhere near the same to your lender — and Padzilly will show you only the one you can actually carry.

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### What you see in the results

Every home that comes back carries its own numbers: its monthly payment and its cash needed, calculated against your loan rather than averaged across the market. The figures are colour-coded, so a green payment is a home within your approval and a red one is not.

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### Searching below your approval

You do not have to shop at the top of your limit. In **Profile → Homebuying Budget** there are two checkboxes — _Search with lower payment_ and _Search with less available cash_ — that let you set your own lower ceiling. The filters then work against your number instead of the bank's.

You can only go down, never up. The approved cap is your lender's decision. Whether you spend all of it is yours.

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### If a home you like does not pass

It is not necessarily out of reach. Open **OfferPro** on that property and try a lower offer price, a bigger down payment, or a seller contribution. Plenty of homes that fail the filter at asking price pass it on a realistic offer.

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For more on searching with your loan, see [How to use SearchPro: What-If Qualification](https://homes-support.padzilly.com/en/articles/2-how-to-use-searchpro-what-if-qualification-b1124-002.md).