Please list all the...

expenses when owning a home...

cable, electric, heat, etc....

I am clueless and since we are thinking about starting to look I need to know if we can even afford it!

TIA!!!!

Message edited 1/2/2012 3:52:14 PM.

Re: Please list all the...

mortgage
pmi
home owners insurance
gas
oil
electricity
sewer
water
maintenance fee/association fee (if you live in an association)
tv/internet/phone
cell phone
alarm
taxes

Message edited 1/2/2012 4:41:54 PM.

Re: Please list all the...

All the above plus if you live in the village of a town there are taxes for the village on top of regular taxes.

Also, regular maintenance. We rent but since we have been in this home our landlord has had to replace the hot water heater and there was no warning, so no chance to save. One day it just stopped working so he had to call the plumber that day because we need hot water.

We had a bug issue that we discovered a month after moving in and he had to call an exterminator 2 times to get rid of the problem and while the exterminator was here he found that there was a carpenter ant problem, they were eating the wood on the front porch so they had to pay to fix that as well

On Thanksgiving, our hot water in the shower wouldn't turn off, just leaked and leaked and got worse by the hour so he had to call a plumber the next day to fix that.

We live in a 1920's home so of course there is always old home issues but a friend lives in a brand new house, they are the first people to live there and since they have been there they have huge issues with their gas fireplace, it reaks of gas when they use it and when it rains, rain comes in their house through the fireplace, their heat has been broken on the 2nd floor 5 times, they had a huge ant problem, and so on and so on. So regardless of age you could have a bad builder, the previous owners could have done self repairs in a bad way, there could mold issues or termite damage that the inspection missed, burst pipes, etc, etc. You just NEVER know so you should have some money stashed away for unseen emergencies.

Re: Please list all the...

Landscaping Maintenance

Re: Please list all the...

In addition some of the expenses we have:

Chimney Sweep ($30/yr-cheap)-this year we were told our chimney was crumbling so we had to put in the stainless steel sleeve which was a grand.

Alarm $30 a month.

We also have a home warranty which we pay $500 a year for. Ours is thru total protect but we used to have American Home Shield. In the two and a half years we've been here, its saved us an ASTRONOMICAL amount of money. Our CAC broke this year, it covered it. We had a broken pipe the year before and it also covered that. I highly recommend doing this--ESP in a fixer upper.

Re: Please list all the...

sure, i had the same questions when we were looking for a house...you might want average pricing as well so ill list that...we have a very small house though so for gas and electric, this is the very low end

these are per month

cable tv and internet- $90

electric in the summer- around 100-125, in the winter, around 75 in the summer

gas in the summer- 60, in the winter, 85

water and sewer- they bill every 3 months, its around 30 for the water and i think 60 for the sewer

lawn cutting- 30 per week (we have it every 2 weeks to save) so $60 a month

a spring or fall clean up if you get it could be pricey- we have a average size backyard,and larger than average for a front yard 300-400 (twice a year)

home owners insurance is rolled into the mortgage payment but ours is 800 something per year..again, this is low since we have such a small house

pmi (private mortgage insurance)which is mandatory if you put a down payment less than 20% is also rolled into your mortgage payment each month and totally depending on the price of your house, mortgage etc. so it could be any amount of $$. its not a huge percentage but it does add up like anything of course.

then of course, still you cell bill, gas for your car, health insurance, groceries, and any other monthly expenses you might have plus the biggest advice is that there is always something that comes up with a house and for me, thats the hardest to deal with, mentally and financially.

but on a positive note, i never thought that we could do it but we do, our money for other things like going out to dinner, vacations, etc. is definitely tighter than it used to be but i can say that buying a house was a wonderful thing and i never regret it. every time i pay the mortgage, i am happy that its going into to our house, not somebody elses mortgage and in the end, its basically a savings account for us for when we sell the house.

good luck!!!