First-time buyer in Lagos: how much cash buffer after closing [townhouse]

A

AmberPost

First-time buyer
Established
The cash left after purchase has to cover more than furnishing, so I do not want to treat all of it as spendable. I am looking at a three-bedroom Lagos townhouse costing about NGN 395,200,000, with an estimated NGN 29,450,000 remaining once my current purchase-cost assumptions are applied.

My concern is that those assumptions may still omit the first mortgage payment, service charges, the insurance excess and urgent inspection findings. I had planned to split the remainder between moving, repairs, savings and furniture, but filling three bedrooms immediately is clearly optional.

Should I first calculate an emergency reserve from my monthly essential outgoings, then subtract every confirmed near-term payment? I can use the inspection report and final cost statement to decide what, if anything, is available for furniture.
 
To clarify, that NGN 29,450,000 does not yet have firm allowances for service charges, the insurance excess or the first mortgage payment. Would you ring-fence the emergency fund first and fit everything else around it, or wait for the inspection findings before deciding the amounts?
 
Ring-fence the emergency fund first. Base it on several months of your essential household and mortgage spending rather than a percentage of the property price. Then reserve known near-term payments, moving costs and only genuinely urgent inspection items. Furniture comes last; a 3-bed does not need to be fully furnished at once.

The missing number is your monthly essential outgoings. How much of the NGN 29,450,000 would remain after covering those for a comfortable period?
 
I would not assign a large repair allowance before seeing the inspection. If the report identifies expensive structural, electrical or water-related work, that is a reason to revisit the price or the purchase itself—not simply consume the whole buffer.

Also confirm when any service charge is due and what it covers. A manageable purchase price can still feel tight if several annual or first-month costs arrive together.
 
Make a one-page cash schedule before committing: first mortgage payment, moving quotes, service charge timing, insurance excess and inspection items classified as urgent, within 12 months, or cosmetic. Keep the emergency reserve separate from that list.

If the numbers only work by furnishing immediately from the emergency pot, delay the furniture. If they only work by shrinking the reserve below your comfort level, the slightly cheaper townhouse is the safer choice.
 
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