What is actually in your budget when you buy

Start with the total you can commit, then work backwards — because the price on the listing is the largest part of what a purchase costs, but it is not the whole of it.

That is the single most useful thing to understand before you start looking. A house advertised at a number is not a house that costs exactly that number to buy. There are costs on top, they are predictable, and building them into your budget from the start is what separates a comfortable purchase from a stretched one.

What sits on top of the price

Three things, broadly, and none of them is a surprise if you plan for it.

Stamp duty. This is a government charge on the transfer itself, payable under the Stamp Duty Act. The rate and thresholds are set by the government and have changed over the years, so the honest advice is to check the current figures with the Inland Revenue Department or your lawyer rather than trusting an old number you read somewhere. It is a real line, not a rounding error.

Legal and notary costs. A transfer deed in Sri Lanka is executed before a Notary Public and registered at the Land Registry. That work costs money, and it is money well spent — the notary and the registration are what make the transfer real and checkable.

Bank charges, if you are borrowing. A mortgage brings its own costs and, importantly, its own limit: the bank lends against the property’s value, not against your enthusiasm. Speak to your bank early, so you know your real ceiling before you fall for something above it.

Land is priced by the perch

If you are buying land, the number you will be quoted is a price per perch, and it pays to be fluent in it. One perch is about 25.29 square metres, or roughly 272 square feet. There are 160 perches in an acre. When one plot is quoted per perch and another as a total, convert them to the same basis before you compare — the cheaper-sounding one is not always the cheaper one.

The point of a budget

A budget is not there to limit you. It is there to let you look with certainty instead of hope — to walk into a viewing knowing this is genuinely within reach, costs and all, rather than discovering at the deed stage that it never quite was. Cornerstone starts from your real number and shows you what is actually available in it. That is a smaller, better list than the one you get by ignoring the costs and browsing above your means.