What did you actually spend on due diligence?

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August 20, 2025

by a searcher from Johns Hopkins University in Shanghai, China

I’m budgeting for my first deal and trying to get a realistic sense of how much cash I should set aside for diligence. From what I’ve gathered, a lean process might run ~$20–30k, while a more comprehensive one could be $40–60k+, not counting SBA fees that get financed. Would anyone here be willing to share what you actually spent (out of pocket) on: Quality of Earnings / CPA review Legal (APA, leases, contracts, etc.) Environmental (if RE included) Industry consultants / ops experts Misc. fees (bank packaging, insurance, background checks) Also curious if there were any surprise expenses you didn’t see coming, or areas where you wish you had budgeted more.
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Reply by an investor
from McGill University in San Diego, CA, USA
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Reply by a searcher
from University of California, Santa Barbara in Seattle, WA, USA
All-in for a deal that was around $5m we spent roughly $35k
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