House Buying Costs Worksheet

Who this is for

What buying costs beyond the deposit. List each one-off cost, from the survey to the removal van, with your early estimate, the quote you were given and what you finally paid. The sheet adds them up and shows the total cash you need alongside the deposit.

Buyers working out how much money they need to have ready, and anyone who wants to see where the final bill for a purchase ended up against their first guess.

What this helps you track

• Every one-off cost of the purchase on its own line
• Your first estimate, the quote received and the amount actually paid
• When each cost was paid, and which are still to come
• The deposit plus costs, as one figure of cash needed
• How far the actual costs drifted from the estimates

How to use it

1. Write the property, the purchase price and your deposit amount at the top.
2. Work down the cost lines, adding or removing items to match your purchase, and put an estimate against each from your own research.
3. Replace estimates with quoted figures as quotes arrive from your conveyancer, surveyor, lender and removals firm.
4. Enter the actual amount and the date paid when each bill is settled.
5. Totals, deposit plus costs and the variance are worked out in the browser and the workbook; on paper, add each column down.
6. For any tax on the purchase, enter the figure your conveyancer or tax authority gives you; the sheet does not work it out.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Which costs should I include?

Anything paid once because of the purchase: survey, legal fees, searches, any purchase tax, lender and broker fees, removals and the like. Ongoing costs such as the mortgage payment belong in a monthly budget instead.

Does the sheet calculate stamp duty or other purchase taxes?

No. Rates and bands differ between countries and change over time. Enter the figure your conveyancer quotes or that you work out from your tax authority's own calculator.

What is the variance column?

Estimate minus actual for each line. A positive figure means the cost came in below what you guessed; a negative figure means it cost more. The total shows the drift across the whole purchase.

Why keep estimate and quoted separately?

Early on you only have guesses; later you have quotes. Keeping both shows how the picture changed and helps you spot a quote that is far from what you expected.