How much cash should remain after buying a Mexico City townhouse?

[bright_blueprint]

I may be too close to this to judge clearly. After the deposit and estimated closing costs on a 5-bed Mexico City townhouse around MX$22,320,000, I would have roughly MX$666,000 left.

That still has to cover moving, any immediate inspection findings, furniture, service charges, insurance excess and the first mortgage payment. I’m also expecting ordinary first-year work. How would you divide that buffer? I would rather buy below my maximum, even with a longer commute, than turn every small repair into an emergency.

 

[sam.archer]

I wouldn’t allocate the whole MX$666,000 yet. First ring-fence emergency savings, the first mortgage payment and any charges due soon after closing. Then set aside moving costs and money for inspection items. Furniture comes last and can be bought room by room. Roughly 3% of the purchase price is not an enormous cushion for a 5-bed property.

 

[SimpleWall]

Is the MX$666,000 figure definitely after the first payment, insurance and any initial service charges, or are those only on your list because the amounts are unknown? That distinction could change the answer considerably. I agree about delaying furniture, but I wouldn’t automatically choose the longer commute either; compare that ongoing time and cost with the actual saving on the cheaper townhouse.

 

[SashaElm]

I’d avoid neat percentage buckets until the inspection arrives. Sort its findings into urgent, first-year and cosmetic work, then price the first two categories as best you can. Add actual moving estimates, the insurance excess and charges due around completion. If a plausible urgent-repair scenario would eat into your emergency savings, that is a strong argument for lowering the purchase target rather than trimming the furniture budget.