Presupuesto de compra: mira más allá del precio
Watch the explanation and read its transcript on Presupuesto de compra: mira más allá del precio. To continue your review, also read Precio solicitado, avalúo comercial y valor catastral: cómo compararlos al evaluar un terreno and Costos que faltan en un precio de vivienda prefabricada: cómo completar el presupuesto.
Video, transcript and related readingThe advertised price is one line item: compare available money with the complete cost and actual payment timetable.
Your complete purchase budget
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Enter actual quotations. No percentage represents a legal fee or an automatically calculated tax. Saved data stays in this browser; this tool does not send it to the server.
Define the property and project being budgeted
A useful budget begins with an exact description of the proposed purchase: property folio, advertised area, municipality, access and purpose. Buying land to hold it creates different immediate needs from buying it to start construction within a few months. Separate the negotiated price from subsequent works, while including the investigations needed to decide whether the transaction is suitable. The registration framework in Law 1579 explains why the deed and registration deserve their own review; paying the price does not complete the documentary checks. Every amount entered in this tool is in Colombian pesos and should belong to the same scenario. Keep a base date and a status for every figure outside the form: quoted, estimated or outstanding. Convert any foreign currency amount separately using a recorded exchange rate and date. Money available today and financing that has merely been discussed should have separate evidence before either is treated as funding for the purchase.
Assign quotations to the correct line item
Legal review means the professional work you actually commission, rather than a fee assumed by the platform. The notary, registration and taxes field combines only amounts confirmed for your transaction and your contractual responsibility. Ask for an itemised quotation or assessment and clarify who pays each charge; this calculator neither applies statutory percentages nor determines tax treatment. Technical studies can combine surveying, preliminary geotechnical investigation or other tasks defined by the specialists. Under access and utilities, enter the interventions needed before using the site, with their scope and exclusions. EPM describes a process running from feasibility through connection: a nearby network does not automatically mean a paid, available connection. Use other costs for identified items such as travel or temporary security, and retain the breakdown. A rounded figure without an explanation should carry an outstanding question rather than the appearance of a firm quotation. Check whether quoted amounts already include applicable taxes and avoid adding them twice.
Understand contingency and the funding gap
The calculation adds legal review, closing, studies, connections and other costs to produce additional costs. It then applies your chosen contingency percentage to the price plus those additional costs. Total cost is that base plus contingency; the funding gap is the positive difference between total cost and available funds. When funds exceed the total, the gap displays zero without showing the surplus. Contingency is a scenario choice, not a tax, compulsory commission or guarantee that the allowance will be sufficient. Because it also applies to the land price here, it can exceed a contingency defined only on uncertain works. If you prefer that second policy, calculate its monetary allowance separately and adjust your scenario transparently instead of assuming the form uses a different base. Avoid putting the same contingency under other costs and in the percentage field. Also establish that the intended project is permissible: the POT portal helps locate relevant planning material, while a budget itself grants no building rights.
A complete hypothetical example
Suppose the price is COP 280,000,000, legal review COP 3,000,000, closing COP 7,000,000, studies COP 5,000,000, access and utilities COP 18,000,000, and other costs COP 2,000,000. These figures are illustrative inputs rather than market fees or official assessments. Additional costs total COP 35,000,000, bringing the base to COP 315,000,000. A chosen contingency of 8% adds COP 25,200,000, so the scenario total is COP 340,200,000. With COP 300,000,000 available, the gap is COP 40,200,000. Notice that negotiating COP 10,000,000 off the price also reduces contingency by COP 800,000 under this formula. That mathematical saving neither removes the studies nor cures a title problem. Save the scenario with a note about the utility quotation, which is the largest technical expense in this example. The next practical question is how and when you could cover the gap while retaining money for household needs, rather than treating every peso you own as available to the property transaction.
Arrange the budget by payment date
The total does not show when each payment occurs. Create a separate timetable for initial documents, visits, any contractual advance, the purchase balance, closing and works. A loan disbursed after conditions are satisfied does not automatically pay for an investigation needed before applying. Nor is a future sale of another asset equivalent to cash on the advance payment date. Identify refundable amounts, payments for work already performed and amounts conditional on closing, using the agreement reviewed by your lawyer. Keep the same horizon when comparing candidates: do not compare a connected property against another whose budget omits the connection. Ask suppliers whether their prices expire before your timetable and what happens if work is delayed. EPM provides steps and requirements for construction projects; consult those relevant to your case rather than assuming every request follows the same route. The date of a technical response can change the funding sequence even when the negotiated land price remains exactly the same.
Test uncertainties that could change the decision
Create a second version by increasing only items whose scope remains unresolved. If access requires another COP 12,000,000 of work, the example's base becomes COP 327,000,000; with the same 8% contingency, the total would be COP 353,160,000. That is COP 12,960,000 above the first scenario. It creates a specific budget question to discuss instead of a general impression that the property looks cheap. Also test delays in the separate timetable, including holding costs during the wait. Medellín's Finance Secretariat provides access to the property tax bill; use the actual document and relevant period instead of inventing a percentage of the purchase price. For property outside Medellín, consult the responsible municipality. If one variable makes the transaction unaffordable, obtaining that quotation or answer should come before further design expenditure. A global contingency helps explore uncertainty, but investigating a potentially decisive expense is still a separate task that deserves its own evidence and owner.
Recognise costs the form does not calculate
This tool does not appraise land, assess taxes, set compulsory professional fees or review the allocation of expenses in your agreement. It does not model inflation, timing discounts, the return forgone on cash, loan instalments or later construction. If you place any such amount under other costs, explain what it means and avoid mixing years of recurring expenses into a scenario labelled as an initial outlay. Advertised area is also unverified here. An apparently attractive price per square metre becomes unhelpful if the area belongs to a parent holding or includes land unusable for the project. Have documents and mapping checked before interpreting that metric. Medellín's land use consultation explains that its concept informs the location of activities and has a different scope from a licence. A budget allowance for procedures therefore does not imply that those procedures will succeed. Keep critical unresolved conditions visible alongside the financial result, with the evidence required before relying on the scenario.
Turn the result into a specific next action
Before using the budget in negotiations, have three things reviewed: the property's identity, the scope of quotations and whether money will be available on the required dates. Download a calculation copy and attach an evidence index with dates and issuers; the exported file contains inputs and results but does not obtain documents for you. Saving and restoring retains a scenario in this browser, so another person or device will not automatically receive that version. Share exclusions whenever you share the total. Write a short decision: proceed with a particular investigation, renegotiate an allocated expense, wait for finance or reject the candidate. Recalculate when a material quotation changes and record the reason for the revision. A documented budget helps distinguish being able to pay for land from still needing to resolve a land use, access or closing problem. That distinction prevents a precise number from becoming a certainty that the supporting documents cannot yet justify.
Quotation and outstanding-item register
Complete this table in your copy before entering amounts in the calculator. Retain scope, date and status for each figure: quoted, estimated or outstanding. A chosen reserve does not resolve an unknown cost.
| Item or decision | Information and evidence for your copy | Next check |
|---|---|---|
| Price and the actual object purchased | Amount, currency, offered interest, documented area, inclusions and validity of the seller’s proposal. | Clarify whether ownership, a share or another interest is purchased before comparing price and closing budget. |
| Review, deed, registration and other costs | Applicable quotation or response, scope, included taxes, proposed payer and items still lacking an amount. | Obtain figures for this transaction; do not apply generic rates or record an outstanding cost as zero. |
| Studies, access and connections | Identified need, provider or professional, included works, exclusions and received-offer date. | Check scope before adding amounts; a nearby network does not establish cost or approved connection. |
| Reserve as a scenario choice | Selected base, chosen percentage or amount, policy rationale and risks still requiring investigation. | Record that the calculator applies the percentage to price plus extras; avoid counting another reserve twice. |
| Available funds against payment dates | Own contribution, confirmed funds, dated payments and financing awaiting assessment or disbursement. | Assess the gap and timetable separately; a zero final gap does not confirm timely availability of funds. |
Sources & bibliography
Read the full document, its date, amendments and scope. The editorial review date describes this page; it does not establish an authorisation or a specific answer about your plot or financing.
- 01Función Pública · Ley 1579 de 2012, Estatuto de Registrowww1.funcionpublica.gov.co · National
- 02EPM · Vinculación de constructores y urbanizadores al servicio de aguaswww.epm.com.co · EPM service area
- 03Alcaldía de Medellín · POT y cartografía oficialwww.medellin.gov.co · Medellín
- 04Alcaldía de Medellín · Consulta de uso del suelo y alcance del conceptowww.medellin.gov.co · Medellín
- 05Alcaldía de Medellín · Secretaría de Hacienda y consulta de factura predialwww.medellin.gov.co · Medellín