Big Decisions 9 min read
Should You Buy a House in 2026?
A decision framework for buy-vs-wait in 2026. Two honest sides of the argument, then the lines that separate a smart buyer from a stuck one.
Templates for Homebuyers.
A curated set of 10 spreadsheets — and the guides that go with them — for the people about to make the largest purchase of their life. Score every house you tour, compare buy-vs-rent honestly, model what one extra payment a year actually does, and have an inventory ready before the moving truck arrives.
The decisions agents won't make for you
Your real-estate agent shows you houses. Your lender quotes you a rate. Neither one tells you which of the four houses you toured last weekend was actually the best fit for your commute, your renovation budget, and your tolerance for the school district. The templates in this collection cover the part of the home-buying decision that nobody else is doing for you: weighted comparisons that survive emotional weekends, mortgage math you can edit yourself, and the post-close inventory most owners only build after a claim.
The reading list below pairs with the templates — including the five-minute affordability check that filters most "stretch" houses before they break your savings rate.
Recommended templates
Spreadsheets for the largest purchase of your life
10 templates
House search, decision helpers, mortgage payoff and post-close inventory — in Excel and Google Sheets.
- $4.45 Excel
House Search Tool - Excel
Three showings deep and you can't remember which house had the big yard. This excel house search tool pairs every frustration with a fix — compare, tour, decide.
Big DecisionsView details - $2.95 Excel
House Buying Decision Helper - Excel
Which house actually wins on the factors you care about? An excel house buying decision helper that scores up to 10 homes against 10 weighted factors.
Big DecisionsView details - $4.95 Excel
Mortgage Payoff Calculator - Excel
There are two kinds of homeowners: the ones who know what an extra payment buys them, and the ones who guess. This excel mortgage payoff calculator turns the guess into a number.
Personal FinanceView details - $4.95 Sheets
Mortgage Payoff Calculator - Google Sheets
You're staring at the amortization statement wondering what an extra $100 a month actually buys you. This google sheets mortgage payoff calculator shows the years and interest saved.
Personal FinanceView details - $4.95 Excel
Apartment Search Tool - Excel
Apartment hunting fails at the comparison step, not the listings step. This Excel apartment search tool lines up communities, tours, reviews, and a weighted score in one file.
Big DecisionsView details - $2.45 Excel
First Apartment Checklist - Excel
Signed the lease and now panicking? This Excel first apartment checklist preloads 180+ essentials by room so you know exactly what to buy, pack, and bring.
Personal ProductivityView details - $2.45 Sheets
First Apartment Checklist - Google Sheets
Confession - nobody packs the can opener until move-in night. This google sheets first apartment checklist front-loads 180+ first apartment essentials so you stop guessing.
Personal ProductivityView details - $4.95 Excel
Home Inventory - Excel
Home inventory isn't about hoarding receipts. This excel home inventory spreadsheet logs what you own, what it cost, and what proves it before you need to file a claim.
Life AdminView details - $4.95 Sheets
Home Inventory - Google Sheets
Owning the stuff is easy — proving you owned it isn't. This google sheets home inventory turns "stuff I own" into a defensible, valued asset list.
Life AdminView details - $2.95 Excel
Mattress Buying Decision Helper - Excel
When did you last buy something you'll use 30,000 hours? The excel mattress buying decision helper scores up to 10 options across 10 weighted factors.
Big DecisionsView details
Where we fit
Between a blank page and rented software
Most tools force a choice between a blank spreadsheet you build from scratch and a monthly app that's overkill. Ardent Workshop is the rung in between — structure you own.
- № 01
Blank spreadsheet
Free, but you build and maintain every formula, tab and layout yourself.
- Free
- Infinite setup
- No structure
- № 02 You are here
Ardent Workshop
Owned, structured, connected workbooks — a one-time price, yours to keep.
- One-time price
- Structured & connected
- Yours to own
- № 03
Generic SaaS app
Powerful, but overkill, rented and locked-in — built for someone bigger than you.
- Monthly rent
- Overkill
- Lock-in
Reading list
Guides for buyers who want to do this once
Affordability checks, payoff math, inventory framing, and the 2026 buy-or-wait read.
-
Big Decisions 12 min readFixer-Upper vs. Move-In-Ready
The fixer-upper's lower price is the most misleading number in real estate. Here's how to score a fixer-upper against a move-in-ready home honestly.
Big Decisions 6 min read5-Minute Affordability Check
Five numbers to run before you tour a house. In five minutes, you'll know whether the listing is actually affordable — not just whether you qualify.
Big Decisions 13 min readWhat Closing Costs Cover
Closing costs run 2–5% of a home's price. Here's a line-by-line look at what you're actually paying for at the closing table — and why it's so much.
Big Decisions 5 min readApartment Walk-Through Checklist
A fast, room-by-room apartment walk-through checklist to catch deal-breakers before you sign the lease — water pressure, outlets, cell signal, and more.
Personal Finance 6 min readThe 10-Minute Moving Budget
Build a moving budget in 10 minutes — the five cost buckets most people forget, from deposits to the buffer, before you book the truck.