First-time home buyer budget tracker

Buying a first house is mostly a budgeting problem disguised as a real estate problem. The down payment is the number everyone talks about, and it is not the one that surprises people. What surprises people is inspection, appraisal, earnest money, title, escrow prepaids, the moving truck, and the fact that the house is empty and needs a lawnmower.

These worksheets put all of it on paper before you are under contract.

What’s inside

• Savings goal worksheet — the target, the timeline, and what you have to put aside monthly to get there
• Monthly budget pages for tracking while you save
• True cost of buying worksheet covering down payment, closing costs, prepaids, moving, and immediate move-in expenses
• Closing cost estimator with the standard line items so nothing gets forgotten
• Monthly ownership cost worksheet — principal, interest, taxes, insurance, HOA, utilities, maintenance reserve
• Mortgage pre-approval prep — the documents lenders ask for, in a checklist
• Questions for your lender and questions for your agent pages
• House comparison sheets, one page per showing, with a scoring section
• Neighborhood evaluation pages — commute, schools, noise, what the street is like on a weekday evening
• Inspection follow-up tracker for the negotiation after the report
• Closing week checklist and a moving checklist
• First-year home maintenance calendar

Who it’s for

First-time buyers, and specifically the stretch that starts a year or two before you are actually looking. The savings worksheets are the part people wish they had started earlier.

A note on scope

These are blank worksheets. They contain no advice about how much to borrow, what loan to take, or when to buy. Those decisions belong with a lender and an agent who know your situation.

Formats and printing

US Letter and A4, standard and fillable. The house comparison sheets are the ones to print — take a stack to showings, because typing on a phone in someone else’s kitchen does not happen.