I thought I knew what my first deal cost and I was off by about $4,200

Closed on 18 acres in Adair County, Missouri last October for $14,500 cash. That number I knew. What I did not count on was $340 for the title search I ordered separately because the closing agent's search felt thin to me, $180 to get a surveyor out just to confirm the corner pins, $95 for the county recorder, $60 in postage and printing for the mailer campaign I ran to find a buyer, $1,200 in back taxes the seller could not cover that I rolled in because I wanted the deal to close, a $500 drive-and-drone day I hired out because I am three hours from Adair and needed current photos, and then $1,800 more in seller financing setup costs when my buyer wanted terms and I used a servicer to originate it clean. None of that felt like a big number in the moment. Each one had a reason that made sense when I wrote the check. I listed it at $28,500 on terms, buyer is paying $389 a month at 9.9% over 84 months, and the deal still works, but my actual basis is $18,675 and I built my pro forma on $14,500. The spread I thought I had was not the spread I had.