Hidden Costs for New Home Owners
As a new home owner, you’ve saved and budgeted and worked your tail off to purchase a new home. When George and I first started shopping around, I felt like the final price tag on the house was elusive, a fleeting unit I could never fully grasp onto and hold with my own two hands. And my bank account NEEDED TAH KNOW THE DETAILS.
Thankfully, we had a great loan officer who helped us forecast and navigate through these (expected) costs. He was the best and helped us get to our closing date smoothly. Closing on our house was one of the more scary and yet exciting days of my life. George and I sat at a big wooden table and listened to the lawyer talk us through legal jargon while gesturing, “Sign here, here and here.” We were finalizing our real estate investment, YIPPEE!
Upon being givien our keys (very exciting moment), we began the process of moving in. Thankfully, George and I are both savers, and we’d be preparing for our move for about 5ish months. However, we were surprised at how many extra items / services we needed to purchase in addition to our home. SO, we’ve compiled a list of hidden (or just extra) costs to help you budget for making your house a home!
Home expenses to budget for ...
1. Closing costs. This cost wasn’t really “hidden” for us, but is definitely something to build into your budget. A lot of times, builders will offer some sort of discount or special deal on closing costs when you sign a contract, but be sure to have extra cash in reserves to pay these (lawyer, legal documents, appraisal fees, etc). Your loan officer should help you calculate these costs.
2. Insurance. You need this ASAP for obvious reasons. We went with a local representative, but be sure to compare multiple options (and ask about bundling to save)!
3. Appliances. We had to purchase a new refrigerator and washer/dryer upon move-in (since we had both previously rented). SHOP THE HOLIDAY SALES. We saved a good chunk of by shopping the July 4th Sale at Lowe’s. We probably saved about $2,000 thanks to the holiday sale. PRO TIP: We ordered a month in advance due to all of the product shortages and slower shipping times.
4. Home accents. We spent the first night in our home without blinds up (we custom ordered these to install ourselves - super easy and cost effective!) or curtains. Kinda creepy. The next morning we popped out of bed and immediately drove to Target to purchase curtains. And those small things add up (if each room has two windows and each window needs two curtains and one curtain rod)…
5. Lawn care. We moved in the middle of July, and our house had fresh sod. We were watering twice a day to make sure the grass didn’t die and ended up purchasing a few different hoses + sprinklers to help with the labor. We also decided go with a lawn treatment service for our yard after spending an entire Saturday afternoon picking weeds out, one-by-one. Money WELL spent.
6. Extermination. We had some critters make their way into the house (summertime in the south) and both agreed that hiring a professional service was probably a good idea. Depending on where you live (i.e. in a wooded area, near a lake, etc.) your plan might vary.
7. Fencing. George and I opted out of building a fence because we don’t have pets, but it’s definitely a bigger expense to budget for if you do need a space for Fido to roam around and be free. For our neighborhood, I believe people were quoted on a range between $6-$10K.
8. Gas fireplace. If you’re building a new home and the fireplace requires a propane tank, this will be an extra cost. There should be local business options for you to choose from - you have to rent the tank (annual fee) and pay for propane by the gallon. We still haven’t hooked ours up, because we wanted to wait for our bank accounts to level out. Ha! These cooler months have me wishing we had just bitten the bullet. My happy place is literally sitting in front of the fireplace, under a blanket and reading a book.
This is by no means an all-inclusive list, but should help you mentally prepare! Once you get through the first couple of months, things calm down. I promise! We have absoutely LOVED being homeowners. There’s something special about walking into your house after a long trip (or work day) and experiencing the feeling of BEING HOME.
