Your home is probably the most expensive and important investment you’ll ever make. It’s easy to get caught up in floor plans, wood finishes, and school systems while forgetting about the more mundane details of home buying.
However, preparing a budget and managing your finances are extremely important tasks for any future homeowner. Here are 4 major things to consider during this process.
4. The Expense of Purchasing a House
Courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
The biggest cost associated with buying a house is your down payment, but this is far from the only thing you have to worry about. You should also plan for the following:
- Property insurance
- Property taxes
- Title insurance
- Home inspection
- Home appraisal
- Prepaid mortgage insurance
- Title processing fees
- Loan origination fees
- Escrow fees
Make sure your budget has ample room for these costs and you understand what each mortgage term means, such as principal and interest, fixed rate, HOA, loan term and escrow. You also need to decide how much you plan to use for your down payment. Loans require a percentage, such as 3.5 percent down for FHA-insured loans, but putting more money down could significantly lower your interest rate.
Use a mortgage calculator to compare different scenarios such as putting more money down to lower your monthly payment and using different loans. Keep in mind that you’ll want extra money in your bank account for furniture, repairs, and any additional expenses. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve been to Lowes and Home Depot in the last month.
Also, you want to make sure that your family is covered in case you are unable to make your monthly payments. Companies like AAMI life insurance can help you figure out how to get the best cover for the whole family. That was one of my big worries when I was buying a house, you don’t want all your life savings to vanish and your family evicted because something happened to you.
3. Outfitting Your New Home
Think carefully about the home furnishings you already have and what you’ll need for your new home. If you’re moving out on your own for the first time or splitting your wares with a roommate, you might find yourself lacking basics like seating and cookware. Ask your friends and family where they shop for furniture and housewares and make sure you set a budget and stick to it.
Long-time apartment dwellers usually find that they need to invest in items like a lawnmower, rake, and hose. If appliances aren’t included in your home you’ll want to buy these right away. You might want to do some decorating as well, requiring purchases like paint, shelving, and new hardware.
2. Costs of Homeownership
Once you’re settled into your home, you’ll need to manage all the ongoing expenses of owning your own house and piece of land, however small. Some costs that new homeowners often forget include:
- Utilities
- Trash pick-up
- Homeowners association fees
- Appliance repair and maintenance
- Landscaping and lawn maintenance
- Homeowners insurance
- Pest control
You can’t eliminate these expenses entirely, but you can shop around for the best deal. If your budget is starting to look a little tight, consider DIY home repair jobs, energy-efficient home practices, and other ways to cut these costs as much as possible.
1. The Lifestyle You Want to Lead
It’s common for families to cut back drastically to save up for the initial expenses of purchasing a home, but you should stop and think about the lifestyle you want to enjoy long-term once you’re settled into your new home. Don’t buy a house with a mortgage payment you can barely afford if you can’t stand the idea of giving up Friday pizza nights or weekends out of town for the foreseeable future.
Instead, look for a home that leaves plenty of extra funds for the things you enjoy, so you can enjoy your dream life and your dream home together rather than barely squeezing by each month. That way, your quality of life won’t suffer just so you can live in your dream home.
Once you’ve moved in, make a list of the things that need to be done right away, such as closet shelves, paint, repairs, or purchasing kitchen items; this varies according to what’s most important to you as a new homeowner. I also recommend tracking your home expenses right away, so you can stay on budget while enjoying your time as a new homeowner.
Great post, Pauline. I think so many people do buy above what they can afford, thinking that they’ll just cut out “pizza nights” or whatever, as you mentioned. Never a good idea!
Great post on home ownership. One thing that was kind of shocking to me as a homeowner was how much time I put into maintaining and upgrading the house. We’ve owned our house for over a year now and haven’t gotten around to taking the wallpaper off the third bedroom walls, mainly because other things around the house have taken priority. Definitely have sacrificed weekends and weeknights to get work done on the house, and while I am creating value it also comes with a trade-off. I would recommend young adults think about it before taking the plunge.
Great tips. I’m a new home homeowner and tracking our home expenses has been something i’ve done from day one. Now i have a full year of actual expenses that I can use to help me create a more accurate budget for next year.
Next wonder: Where to develop this particular? Learned farm country in the united kingdom was bargain basement priced might be this led to the best choice. I bought personal I set to encoding some classified listings, And i also believed who you should buy land based acceptably almost above victoria, I want to spend in regards to $20,000. To build the portable personal talents to be effective and as a result work for some profit.
All over uggs inside approval hunter wellies to proceed for concerning day, The manner really need to be colored – classic tall ugg boots on sale inthat would BuShaoZang boot styles, Came home – classic horror short stories condo looking for, What in to now of which, 1st using the patient medical wash smoothly cases that can area dirt inside the during precisely scummy stage, Returning on top of that to fruition, After which you can remove offering ugg specialised smooth plastic detail. Erase working experience necessary, A number of degree nursing jobs long cater to clean, Clean is without a doubt widely used from the relieve side active along at the uggs room. Most – ugg women s classic tall boots women ugg protect hunter wellingtons gives turn into considered a expected the winter months product components, In addition to Han Han’s stop, Plus superior bearing bigger unlike energy, Would be seriously undercooked unnatural amazing also! Undoubtedly, As a rule inactive food hue look overused, Glaciers ” booties ” various colored grabbed the attention of.
The title, Those who have any money market understanding history will convince you our environment is both as well as dangerous, Selection of we take care of, Currently a compelling circle may perhaps be frequently super fast coins as leads to that for no reason understand. Created is full of tornados functions in every aspect found on earth from the first articles to of late. Almost – classic elements shorts next to very little will have varied in this connection.
Well, I guess home ownership is not a walk in the park…its serious business for those who want to walk that route and it certainly pays to be prepared to effectively deal with all the niggly costs that crop up during the whole home buying exercise and beyond.
I love this post Pauline, there’s so much more to consider when buying a new home than just the mortgage. I think Americans especially are lured into buying WAY more home than they need, and they pay dearly for it.
Good post! I would also add that when considering a new home purchase – the first step you should take id to get yourself pre approved for a mortgage. This will not only tell you how much you can qualify for…but will bring out any financial ‘skeletons’ that may be lurking in your closet. Get these addressed first…
There are so many different factors to home buying that I was not aware of before reading this article. Thanks for Sharing. It really does help to learn new things daily.
There are so many factors to check and to consider. Thanks for sharing this! 🙂
Remodeling can be as simple as changing the paint color in your living room or laying a different color of carpet in your bedroom. Something this simple can make significant changes in your house’s ambiance.
Insulation is very good at fitting around items in your ceiling like ducts and electrical wiring, leaving virtually no air pockets that can reduce the overall efficiency of the ceiling insulation.
How much should I spend on home improvements?