6 Hidden Costs of Homebuying
These are costs you'll probably never see on a lender's checklist, but they represent real money — sometimes large amounts of it. Follow these tips and you'll know what to expect so there aren't any costly surprises down the road in your homebuying journey.
1. Improvements:
Even if your home is in great shape or brand new on the date of purchase, there will probably be things you want to change to make it uniquely yours. New carpet, paint, or countertops, perhaps? It all adds up. If you buy a fixer-upper, of course, you should budget significant money for improvements.
2. Moving:
Unless you're planning to carry everything into your new home yourself, you'll probably need to spend some money on the move-in. The more stuff you have and the further you're moving, the more you should budget.
3. Furnishings:
If you're buying your first home, your old apartment-dweller furniture may not do the job (lawn chairs and futons?). Maybe you want more furniture, nicer furniture, more-coordinated furniture, or fresh-new-start furniture. In any case, you'll need a furniture budget.
4. Time:
Time is literally money if you need to take days off from work to attend inspections and final walkthroughs, complete improvements, sign documents, or move into your new home. If you have vacation time available, great. If not, you may need to account for some unpaid leave when making your budget.
5. Maintenance:
Over the life of a home you may need to repair or replace roofs, furnaces, carpeting, paint, shingles, shutters, appliances, windows, or almost any other feature of your home. These expenses are hard to predict. In fact, you can expect to spend between 1% and 3% of your home's purchase price on maintenance every year. If you haven't included that in your calculations when deciding how much home you can afford, now's the time to add one more item to your "expenses" column in our True Affordability Tool™.
6. Utilities:
You may be in for some budgetary shock when you go from paying utilities for an apartment to covering utility costs for your first home. Some utilities that are commonly included in rent (garbage collection or water, for instance) are now your responsibility. Additionally, the total cost of utilities you already pay — such as electricity, heat, and water — can be significantly higher in a home you own if you have upgraded to a larger space.
Want more advice about all things home — including homebuying or selling advice? Nestiny is a great place for homebuyer education and to help you gauge how ready you are to buy a home. Journey Homeward allows you to enter all your wants and needs while the True Affordability Tool will break down your budget, showing what you can comfortably afford. You will also receive a Ready Report that will give you a vital head start in the home buying journey, saving you valuable time and money.
