First Home True Cost Calculator
Total cost of buying your first home.
Calculate total true cost of buying a first home including deposit, taxes, fees, and first-year running costs. Enter mortgage y1 to see for fees and tax.
What this tool does
Enter property price, deposit, and estimates for fees, tax, and first-year costs. The tool totals first-year outlay.
Enter Values
Formula Used
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Disclaimer
Results are estimates for educational purposes only. They do not constitute financial advice. Consult a qualified professional before making financial decisions.
First-time buyers often underestimate the year-one cost. A 300,000 first home: 30,000 deposit, 5,000 transfer tax, 1,500 legal, 500 survey, 1,000 arrangement, 15,600 mortgage (12 months), 3,600 maintenance budget, 2,000 insurance and tax — 59,200 cash out in year one alongside starting without furniture or a working budget. Running the real number before committing makes the decision honest.
A worked example
Try the defaults: deposit of 30,000, upfront costs of 8,000, annual mortgage of 15,600, annual running costs of 5,600. The tool returns 64,200.00. You can adjust any input and the result updates as you type — no submit button, no reload. That's the real power here: seeing how sensitive the output is to one or two assumptions.
What moves the number most
The result responds to Deposit, Upfront Costs (tax, legal, fees), Annual Mortgage (Y1), Annual Running Costs, and Furniture & Setup. Frequency and unit price pull the total in different directions. The biggest surprise for most people is how small recurring amounts compound into large annual figures — that's where this calculation earns its keep.
The formula behind this
Sum of all year-one cash outlays. Deposit and upfront are one-off; mortgage, running, furniture are annualised or one-off depending on setup. Everything the calculator does is shown in the formula box below, so you can check the math against your own spreadsheet if you want.
Budgeting for the milestone
One-off life events have a habit of spreading — a wedding that "costs 15,000" routinely ends at 20,000 once related expenses are tallied. Use this tool to build the realistic figure, then add 10–15% for the items you haven't thought of yet.
What this doesn't capture
Life events generate side costs the figure doesn't include: time off work, lost income, travel for others, aftercare. Add 10–15% to the direct number as a buffer; the items you haven't thought of usually fill most of it.
First home true cost produces a year-one total based on the inputs provided.
Inputs
This example uses typical values for illustration. Adjust the inputs above to match a specific situation and see how the result changes.
Sources & Methodology
Methodology
Sum of all year-one cash outlays. Deposit and upfront are one-off; mortgage, running, furniture are annualised or one-off depending on setup.
References
Frequently Asked Questions
Why include year-one furniture?
What's missing from this calculation?
How much cash to save before buying?
Can I roll fees into the mortgage?
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