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Hitting Home: Five Often-overlooked New Homeowner Expenses

Hitting Home: Five Often-overlooked New Homeowner Expenses

When you’re preparing to purchase a new home, your life is full of excitement, some stress and a laundry list of tasks to complete, like packing, completing inspections and wrapping up life in your rental property or other soon-to-be former home.

Just when you think you’ve got everything covered, it seems like a new task or expense pops up. So, we’ve prepared a list of homeowner expenses that, for whatever reason, are sometimes overlooked during the closing and move-in processes.

Here are five homeowner expenses to keep in mind as you’re buying a new home:

Property taxes – Unlike a mortgage that you eventually can pay in full, property taxes are an expense that will never go away. Whether you pay for a new home up front or finance it for 30 years, property taxes are a fee that will remain with you as long as you own a home.

 

Typically, property taxes are paid as part of an escrow account that is set up through your lender. You pay a portion of your property taxes along with your mortgage payment each month and your lender pays your annual property taxes whenever they are due. Because your property taxes often are buried in your mortgage payment, it can be easy to forget you’re even paying them! But, those property taxes can significantly bump up that monthly mortgage payment.

 

Risk – When you’re first buying a home, the thought of someone getting hurt on your new property or, worse yet, foul weather damaging or destroying your new home are the furthest things from your mind. And, for good reason. Who wants to think about such negative things when you’re completing one of the largest and most exciting purchases you may ever make?

 

But, the reality is that there is a lot of risk that comes along with being a new homeowner. Of course, you pay for insurance to cover those risks, but in the event of a fall or natural disaster, those insurance premiums are certain to rise.

 

Maintenance – If you’re even slightly handy around your new home, you can save yourself some money on routine maintenance issues. However, when it comes to electrical work, roof repairs or furnace issues that may pop up from time to time, you may need to call in the help of some professionals. Depending on where you live and when you need them, hiring service professionals can be very costly for homeowners.

 

The “Extras” – When you move into a new home, it can be very easy to begin to want other new things to complete that home. But, an extra piece of furniture here and some new artwork there quickly can add up to a major expense. It is best to corral spending on home décor when you first move in to a new home, at least until you know that you are comfortable with the new bills that accompany your new home purchase.

 

However, there are some new homeowner expenses that are hard to corral upon move in. Gadgets like a lawnmower and other lawn care tools, a step ladder and tool box often are seen as homeowner must-haves. They’re also often needed from day one, so it is very difficult to put off buying them.

 

Time – Though not necessarily a monetary expense, being a home owner also costs a significant amount of time. There is watering, fertilizing and mowing the lawn. There’s painting a room, vacuuming and other regular cleaning tasks. Now, there are two routes that homeowners can go to complete those tasks.

 

For many homeowners, basic home care costs only a little money, but can take a great deal of time and effort to complete. For other homeowners, that at-home TLC may take none of their own time, but could cost significantly higher if they choose to hire out for help.

Home ownership is a great accomplishment that comes with great responsibility and certain unavoidable costs. So, when you’re shopping for a new home, try not to overlook some of the extras that come along with that purchase price.

 

This post is sponsored by PA Preferred Mortgage:

Pennsylvania Preferred Mortgage is a full service mortgage banker and is a member of the Prosperity Home Mortgage, LLC family. Specializing in residential and refinance loans, Pennsylvania Preferred Mortgage offers a wide range of mortgage products, including fixed and adjustable rate mortgages, jumbo loans, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Veterans Affairs (VA) loans, and renovation financing. Learn more at www.papreferredmortgage.com.