A spreadsheet can calculate mortgage payments, property taxes, and utility costs. It can't calculate what a private backyard is worth to you, what a particular view means, or what it feels like to walk into the right home. Investors run spreadsheets because they're buying an asset. Homebuyers are buying a life — and reducing that decision to a column of numbers misses almost everything that actually matters. Ty Lacroix, Broker at The Envelope Real Estate Group, has spent 24 years helping London buyers find the home that's right for them, not just the one that pencils out.
Will a real estate spreadsheet help you decide on buying a home in London, Ontario? In my years as a broker, I hear it constantly: "I'll add it to my spreadsheet and get back to you." Or, "I'll run the numbers and see if it works."
Here's the honest question worth asking back: what exactly does a spreadsheet account for?
A spreadsheet doesn't have rationality, reasonability, or common sense built into it — it only has whatever numbers you feed it. It can't account for optimism, patience, or the simple desire to feel settled. It has no concept of uncertainty, doubt, or regret, and it doesn't suffer from analysis paralysis the way a person staring at it for the tenth time does. A spreadsheet can't rationalize what a private backyard is worth to you, what a particular view means every morning, or why a specific layout finally feels like home after years of living somewhere that didn't.
It also can't weigh your commute, whether you need a dedicated work-from-home space, the school catchment, how walkable the neighbourhood is, or whether the area's demographics genuinely fit your stage of life.
When a Spreadsheet Actually Makes Sense
When I worked with investors, nearly all of them ran spreadsheets — and the most successful ones did it properly. They modelled a 20-year time horizon, deliberately stripped emotion from the decision, and factored in what might change over that period: new nearby construction, shifting traffic patterns, or regulatory changes that could affect their return. For an investor, that's exactly the right approach. The property is an asset. The spreadsheet should rule.
A home buyer's decision is different in kind, not just in degree.
What a Spreadsheet Actually Tells You
Morgan Housel put it simply: financial decisions are not made in spreadsheets or textbooks. For a home buyer, a spreadsheet is genuinely useful for one thing — calculating your mortgage payment, property taxes, and utility costs. That's it. That's the full extent of what it can responsibly tell you.
A home may not be the most financially optimal investment you'll ever make. But a home is you. It's your family, your retreat, your safety zone, the place you actually live your life rather than just hold as an asset on paper. There's no column for that. There's no formula that captures what it's worth to wake up in the right place.
Prudence has its place, and the numbers matter — knowing what you can genuinely afford protects you from a decision you'd regret. But once the numbers confirm you can afford it, the decision about which home is the right one is a human decision, not a mathematical one. Treating it purely as the latter means optimizing for the wrong outcome.
If you're looking for a home in London and trying to balance what makes financial sense with what actually feels right for your next chapter, that's exactly the conversation worth having — with someone who understands both sides of that equation.
Looking for the right home, not just the right number? Reach out for a private conversation — no pressure, no pitch.
For the complete buyer framework:
