Mexico City first-time buyer: is MX$702,000 enough cash after closing?

I may be too close to the numbers to judge them clearly. After the deposit and estimated closing costs, I would have about MX$702,000 left on a 2-bed new-build flat priced around MX$10,710,000 in Mexico City.

The mortgage payment is affordable, but the first year is harder to picture. An inspection may identify ordinary work, and there will also be moving, furniture, service charges and insurance costs. How would you divide the remaining cash between an emergency fund and those early expenses? I would rather buy below my maximum than turn every small issue into a crisis.

I would not divide it into four equal pots. Ring-fence the emergency fund first, then set aside cash for expenses with fixed or likely dates: the move, first mortgage payment, service charges and any insurance excess. Repairs and furniture come from what remains.

Is the MX$702,000 figure after all of those initial payments, or only after the transaction costs? Also, what does the developer actually deliver in the flat?

I would push back slightly on treating every inspection finding as your repair bill. With a new build, some items may be defects for the developer to address, depending on the contract and local position. You still need cash because remedies can take time, but first separate genuine owner costs from snagging items.

Furniture is the easiest category to delay. A bed, basic seating and appliances that are not included matter; furnishing both bedrooms perfectly on day one does not.

MX$702,000 is roughly 6.5% of the purchase price, but that percentage does not tell us whether the buffer is comfortable. The useful comparison is against essential monthly spending and income stability.

I would make three lists: cash that must remain untouched, costs due in the first 90 days, and optional purchases. Put furniture in the third list unless it is necessary to live there. Do you already know the service charge amount and when the first payment is collected?

The developer being responsible for a defect does not necessarily mean it will be resolved before you need to live with it, so I would still retain a contingency. Get the inspection findings in writing, clarify which items the developer accepts, and avoid assuming the whole MX$702,000 is available for decorating.

Before committing, ask for the service-charge schedule, confirm the first mortgage payment date, check what insurance excess could apply, and price a realistic move rather than a best-case one. The exact contractual position will be specific to Mexico and your documents.

A useful stress test is to model one unpleasant month in which the first mortgage payment, moving bill, service charge, insurance excess and one urgent repair all land together. If paying that combination still leaves the emergency fund intact, the plan has breathing room. If it consumes the emergency fund, either postpone most furniture or reduce the target purchase price.

Also keep the buffer genuinely liquid. Money assigned to essential early costs is not really emergency savings, even if it is still sitting in the same account before completion.