The best time to get a sense of the costs involved in home ownership is before you begin to look for one, especially since the “hidden costs” of owning a home can top $14,000 a year for the average U.S. homeowner and exceed $22,000 in pricey metros such as San Francisco and New York.

The sum — which pencils out to $1,180 a month for the average homeowner — includes utility bills, homeowners insurance and maintenance costs, according to an analysis by Zillow and Thumbtack, a home management platform that enables people to fix, maintain and improve their homes.

While most prospective buyers are familiar with big ticket items such as mortgage payments and property taxes, smaller costs add to the cost of owning a home. Taking them into account before you begin shopping can help prevent unpleasant surprises that strain or drain your finances.

What are the costs of owning a home?

“Understanding all the costs that come with homeownership can not only impact a buyer’s budget, but the type of home they shop for, too,” said Zillow® home trends expert Amanda Pendleton. “While a big backyard or a larger home may be appealing, it’s important to consider how much maintaining those spaces could cost. Buyers may want to consider affordable alternatives to single-family homes, or spend more upfront on a new-construction home that could need less maintenance in the near term.”

The total costs of home ownership are made up of purchase costs, ongoing fixed costs and maintenance expenses. The most common ongoing expenses include:

• Mortgage payments (principal and interest)
• Property taxes
• Insurance
• HOA dues (if applicable)
• Utilities
• Maintenance

Costs of homeownership by location

Of the top 39 metro areas analyzed, the locations with the highest hidden costs of ownership costs are San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, which all came in at more than $22,000 annually. 

Locations with some of the least expensive annual hidden homeownership costs are Las Vegas ($9,886); Asheville, North Carolina ($11,318); and St. Louis ($11,824).

Home details that affect your homeownership costs

A few additional factors besides your real estate market can make your homeownership experience less or more expensive than the average, including: 

• Age of the home
• Home’s condition based on inspection and disclosures
• Location (affects both contractor costs and climate-specific maintenance)
• Materials used for build and subsequent renovations or repairs
• Home warranty

Ongoing fixed costs of owning a house

Once you buy a home and move in, you’ll start paying a set of ongoing fixed costs for as long as you own the home.

Monthly mortgage payments (principal & interest)

If you put 10% down on a typical U.S. home, valued at about $350,000, and financed the rest with a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage at 7%, here’s what the cost of borrowing would look like:

• Principal and interest: $2,096
• Private mortgage insurance: $155 (note that for many loans, you’ll only have to pay PMI until your equity in the home reaches 20%)
• Total monthly mortgage payment: $2,251

Property taxes

How much you’ll pay in property taxes depends on the tax rates where your home is located and how much your house is worth. Your property taxes are paid in a lump sum annually or biannually, either out of pocket or, more commonly, through your mortgage escrow account. 

Nationally, homeowners pay an average of $2,827 in property taxes annually. Metro New Yorkers pay the highest property taxes out of the 40 studied, averaging $9,145 a year. Pittsburgh metro homeowners average the lowest property taxes at $1,055 annually.

Homeowners’ insurance

Homeowners’ insurance generally covers repairs or replacement of your home and its contents if they are damaged by certain hazards such as fires or other natural disasters and is almost always required by your lender.

The cost of homeowners’ insurance will vary depending on your location, the type of coverage you’re buying and any discounts you might qualify for, and your insurer.

Broadly speaking, homeowners pay about 0.5% of their home’s value every year for insurance. So for the typical home, valued at about $350,000, you’d pay about $146 a month. The cost is likely to be higher in areas prone to hazards, and lower in the most affordable metros, such as Pittsburgh ($994 annually) and Cleveland ($1,087 a year).

Coverage for rebuilding or repairs after an earthquake or flood is usually not included in standard homeowners’ policies, so you may want to — or in the case of flood insurance, have to — buy a separate policy.

If you’re buying with a mortgage, the lender will typically roll the cost of insurance into the monthly mortgage payment and pay the premiums on your behalf.

Homeowner association (HOA) fees

If your home is part of a homeowner’s association, you’ll be responsible for paying monthly, quarterly or yearly dues. HOAs are more common in condominium, townhome or planned communities. 

Homeowner associations or HOAs are non-profit entities that can establish and enforce rules, provide basic services such as water and tend to the maintenance and repair of community amenities such as pools, roads and landscaping.

Commonly found in condominium, townhome and planned single-family home communities, HOAs are run by a board of homeowners and typically charge dues that you will be required to pay monthly or annually. Dues vary widely, and can change depending on the community needs. For instance, an association that has neglected maintenance or wants to undertake development of something such as a new park can raise dues or levy special assessments. 

Maintenance expenses of owning a home

“Just like you would visit a mechanic for regular tune-ups to help keep your car in good condition and avoid big bills, your home needs the same routine maintenance to ensure that everything is running smoothly,” said David Steckel, Thumbtack’s home expert. “Staying on top of annual home maintenance will not only increase the value of your home, but will also help prevent emergency repairs that can wreck a homeowner’s budget.”    

Maintenance costs are somewhat flexible because they may not impact every homeowner in the same way. For example, you could have to pay for lawn maintenance out of pocket or through your HOA or you may not have a yard to maintain. Although costs will vary, it’s helpful to get a feel for maintenance expenses. 

Maintenance and upkeep

Based on data from millions of home projects completed across the country, home maintenance and upkeep runs about $6,413 annually, according to Thumbtack. The list of projects on which the list is based is a long one that may or may not apply to your circumstances: 

• appliance maintenance 
• carpet cleaning 
• central air conditioning maintenance 
• deck staining and sealing 
• duct and vent cleaning 
• fireplace and chimney cleaning 
• full-service lawn care 
• gutter cleaning and maintenance 
• heating system maintenance 
• house cleaning 
• pressure washing 
• roof maintenance 
• sprinkler and irrigation system maintenance 
• tile and grout cleaning 
• tree trimming and removal 
• water heater maintenance
• window cleaning

The average cost of upkeep is highest in Los Angeles and Chicago, totaling $8,639 and $7,722 respectively. Meanwhile, homeowners in Pittsburg pay an average of $3,373 and those in Cleveland pay $3,747 a year to maintain their homes. 

Utilities

If you’re a first-time buyer, the cost of utilities could surprise you, especially if your previous rental home included utilities. Homeowners in Hartford, Connecticut, pay the highest utility bills, averaging $4,443 annually, according to the Zillow/Thumbtack research.

For homeowners in urban areas, utilities could include: 

• water and sewer
• garbage pickup 
• electric 
• natural gas 
• cable and internet

Rural utility costs could include: 

• water 
• septic repair and maintenance 
• garbage pickup 
• electric 
• propane 
• wood or wood pellets for heat 
• internet

Larger homes are likely to cost more to heat and cool, and older homes may be less energy efficient unless they’ve had new windows installed and/or the insulation upgraded.

Home repairs and cosmetic updates

Depending on the age and condition of the home, you’re likely to run into things you want to update or have to fix. 

Research and survey data from Zillow and home services website Thumbtack in 2021 shows that 65% of active shoppers are not looking for a fixer-upper. Yet the research found that the typical for-sale home could need nearly $30,000 worth of work, and that new homeowners should expect to spend $26,900 to make their new home move-in ready.

That’s substantially more than the $10,000 to $15,000 the average millennial surveyed by Thumbtack expects to pay for repairs and updates.

The most expensive project — evaluating, repairing or replacing heating and air conditioning systems — clocked in at a national average of $3,615.

New appliances

Everything in a home has a lifespan, and appliances are no exception. 

If you’re buying a newly built home, the appliances should be new and under warranty. If you’re buying a resale home, the need to replace or repair an appliance can vary widely depending on the age and condition of the appliances.

At a minimum, most appliances will run you several hundreds of dollars for the most basic models. Add bells and whistles, and you could be looking at thousands of dollars to replace a refrigerator. You also could have to pay for installation, a pricey proposition if it involves changes to electrical wiring or plumbing.

How to prepare for hidden costs

A good place to start is to determine how much you intend to put down on the purchase, and then see how much you’re prepared to spend on closing costs and improvements. 

A good rule of thumb is to have 1-4% of the home cost reserved for hidden costs.  

Complete a home inspection

Look to your home inspection for a preview of what to expect. The best way to get a handle on possible costs for repairs and upgrades is to have a home inspected before you make an offer to buy it.

A good inspector can assess electrical systems and plumbing, structural soundness and the condition of the roof — and some inspectors can offer price estimates for various repairs. Even seemingly small repairs add up, so knowing what your house may need in advance can help set expectations for your wallet. 

Once you have a handle on what repairs are needed, you can factor them into the cost of the house to determine the true cost of owning it, and compare the price to other homes that might not need as much work.

Set up an emergency fund

Home maintenance costs can be unpredictable. It’s smart to set aside 1-2% of your home’s value each year into an emergency fund, so that when those big-ticket repairs need fixing, you’ll already have the money set aside. 

Make a plan for improvements

Plan for updates. Think about what things would have to be done immediately, what could wait, and — if you’re handy, what you might be able to do yourself. Be realistic. Some home projects, such as painting the outside or remodeling the kitchen, can take a long time when you’re working and/or tending to your family.

Forecast repairs and replacements

Although it’s impossible to pinpoint exactly when something in your home is going to fail or need replacing, you can use the expected lifespan to prepare, both financially and mentally, for upcoming projects. If you’re buying an existing home, your home inspector will usually estimate the age of the appliances at the time of your purchase. Here are common lifespans, according to the National Association of Homebuilders and Consumer Reports: 

• Roof: 20-30 years, or 50+ years for slate or copper roofs
• Furnace: 18 years for a gas furnace, 15 years for electric
• Air conditioner: 15 years
• Oven/range: 15 years
• Refrigerator: 13 years
• Freezer: 11 years
• Washer/dryer: 10-13 years
• Dishwasher: 9 years
• Flooring: 10-100 years, depending on the material

Assess your appliances

Get to know your appliances. Ask your inspector to test the appliances during the home inspection, and ask your real estate agent to get the age of the appliances from the seller, along with typical cost of utilities in the summer and winter months.

Consider a home warranty

Research home warranties. A home warranty — which is a short-term service contract that helps home buyers cover the costs of repairing or replacing certain mechanical systems and applies during the first year of ownership, can take away some of the financial uncertainty. Depending on the level of coverage, home warranties typically cost between $300 and $800, and can usually be paid monthly or in a lump sum. You can ask the seller to pay for one or buy one yourself. 

Ask about HOA maintenance practices

Since HOA dues are fixed for the year, they should be easy enough to figure into the budget. To get a sense of how stable those costs are likely to be long term, ask for a copy of the HOA’s most recent three annual financial reports to see whether it is spending money on routine maintenance. HOAs that kick the can down the road can end up with expensive projects that require special assessments or hefty dues hikes.

Add up costs for maintenance

If you’re contemplating a home with a yard, for example, do a cold-eyed assessment of how much time and money you need and want to spend maintaining it. If you prefer to hire someone to do it, put that in your budget.

Remember: Your list doesn’t have to be exhaustive, but it should get you close to what you’re prepared to spend. Having that monthly cost in mind, can help you determine whether the home you want to buy fits your budget.

The post The True Prices of Proudly owning a Dwelling Can High $14K Yearly appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

New Zillow and Thumbtack analysis identifies the additional costs home buyers can expect, including utilities, insurance, maintenance and property tax

• Homeowners can expect to pay $14,155 a year, or $1,180 a month, in hidden costs related to owning a home.
• These annual costs can be as high as $22,791 in the San Francisco metro area and as low as $9,886 in Las Vegas.
• Affordability is the No. 1 challenge for first-time home buyers. Zillow’s affordability calculator and new search by monthly cost tool, along with Thumbtack’s personalized maintenance guides, can help buyers incorporate these costs into their budget.

SEATTLE and SAN FRANCISCO, June 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The everyday expenses of owning a home are higher than ever, according to a new analysis from Zillow® and Thumbtack. Utility bills, property taxes, insurance and essential home maintenance can add up to $14,155 a year for the average U.S. homeowner. That’s an additional $1,180 per month on top of a typical mortgage payment. First-time home buyers facing affordability challenges in today’s market need to understand and budget for these less obvious expenses when calculating how much home they can afford. 

These costs can be surprisingly high in already pricey metro areas, topping $22,000 annually in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles. Of the 39 metro areas analyzed, hidden homeownership costs are the lowest in Las Vegas ($9,886); Asheville, North Carolina ($11,318); and St. Louis ($11,824).

Zillow and Thumbtack’s research looked at three unavoidable expenses for single-family homeowners — property taxes, homeowners insurance and utility payments (energy, water, natural gas and internet) — and found they averaged $7,742 in total nationally. New Yorkers pay the highest property taxes, topping $9,000 per year, while utilities cost the most in Hartford, Connecticut, averaging $4,443 a year. Costs for homeowners insurance vary based on home value, so homeowners in the most affordable metro areas, such as Pittsburgh and Cleveland, have the added benefit of lower insurance bills. 

The analysis also considered Thumbtack’s 17 essential home maintenance projects, based on data from millions of home projects completed across the country. These projects average a combined $6,413 annually. The average cost of upkeep is highest in Los Angeles and Chicago, totaling $8,639 and $7,722 respectively. Meanwhile, homeowners in Las Vegas can expect to pay just $3,467 per year to maintain their homes. 

“Just like you would visit a mechanic for regular tune-ups to help keep your car in good condition and avoid big bills, your home needs the same routine maintenance to ensure that everything is running smoothly,” said David Steckel, Thumbtack’s home expert. “Staying on top of annual home maintenance will not only increase the value of your home, but will also help prevent emergency repairs that can wreck a homeowner’s budget.” 

First-time buyers make up nearly half of all home shoppers (45%), and they may be caught off guard by these costs and fail to account for them when budgeting for a home. By starting with the Home Loans tab on Zillow’s homepage, shoppers can use an affordability calculator to figure out how much they can afford and then connect with a loan officer to establish not only what mortgage they qualify for, but what they’re comfortable paying, given these additional costs. With that budget in hand, buyers can then use a new app filter on Zillow to shop for homes by monthly cost, instead of by purchase price. 

“Understanding all the costs that come with homeownership can not only impact a buyer’s budget, but the type of home they shop for, too,” said Zillow home trends expert Amanda Pendleton. “While a big backyard or a larger home may be appealing, it’s important to consider how much maintaining those spaces could cost. Buyers may want to consider affordable alternatives to single-family homes, or spend more upfront on a new-construction home that could need less maintenance in the near term.”

Once buyers have closed the deal, Thumbtack is the go-to partner to help care for your new home. By entering their home’s location and features on Thumbtack, homeowners can receive personalized guidance on what projects to complete, when to complete them and who to hire to get the job done. This will help homeowners create prioritized maintenance plans that are within their budget to cover everything from the move-in house cleaning to tree trimming and roof maintenance. 

Methodology

In this analysis, property taxes were calculated using the median effective tax rate in each metro area multiplied by the area’s median home value as measured by the Zillow Home Value Index.

In estimating insurance costs, this analysis assumed homeowners pay 0.5% of their home’s value every year, which was calculated as 0.005 multiplied by the area’s median home value as measured by the Zillow Home Value Index.

Utility costs were calculated using the unweighted average across all states, excluding streaming and phone bill costs, as reported by Forbes.

The annual costs of home maintenance consist of Thumbtack categories that are deemed essential annual tasks for home maintenance: appliance maintenance, carpet cleaning, central air conditioning maintenance, deck staining and sealing, duct and vent cleaning, fireplace and chimney cleaning, full-service lawn care, gutter cleaning and maintenance, heating system maintenance, house cleaning, pressure washing, roof maintenance, sprinkler and irrigation system maintenance, tile and grout cleaning, tree trimming and removal, water heater maintenance and window cleaning.

Pricing data is based on projects requested on Thumbtack reported directly by the independent service professional or individual customer. The cost is an unweighted index of all yearly home maintenance projects and is calculated on a quarterly basis using a moving average.

About Zillow Group

Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z) (NASDAQ: ZG) is reimagining real estate to make it easier to unlock life’s next chapter. As the most visited real estate website in the United States, Zillow® and its affiliates offer customers an on-demand experience for selling, buying, renting, or financing with transparency and ease. 

Zillow Group’s affiliates, brands and subsidiaries include Zillow®; Zillow Premier Agent®; Zillow Home Loans; Zillow Closing Services; Trulia®; Out East®; StreetEasy®; HotPads®; and ShowingTime+℠ , which houses ShowingTime®, Bridge Interactive®, and dotloop® and interactive floor plans. Zillow Home Loans, LLC is an Equal Housing Lender, NMLS #10287 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org).

About Thumbtack

Thumbtack is a technology leader building the modern home management platform. Through the Thumbtack app, homeowners can effortlessly manage their homes — confidently knowing what to do, when to do it, and who to hire. Bringing the $600 billion home services industry online, Thumbtack empowers millions of homeowners to fix, maintain, and improve their most valuable asset. Hundreds of thousands of local service professionals, from painters and plumbers to photographers and electricians, use the Thumbtack platform to grow their business each year.

SOURCE Zillow Group, Inc.

For further information: Amanda Pendleton, Zillow, press@zillow.com; or Gina Balistreri, Thumbtack, press@thumbtack.com

The post Hidden prices of homeownership can add as much as almost $15,000 yearly appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

This post is sponsored and contributed by Thumbtack, a Patch Brand Partner.

While it might seem awfully tempting to try to fix that wobbly table or rattling AC unit on your own, most home repairs are best left to the professionals. Hiring a handyman can save you time and stress — and Thumbtack, a convenient home services app used by millions, makes it easier than ever to find a handyman in the San Anselmo-Fairfax area.

Each pro on Thumbtack has their own profile with price information, allowing you to find a handyman who works within your budget. The average cost to hire a handyman in the greater San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA region is $68 per hour, according to data obtained by Thumbtack.

Eager to get started on those home repairs? Here are some professional handymen in the San Anselmo-Fairfax area.

Find out what’s happening in San Anselmo-Fairfaxwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Mario Lopez jr

• Customer review: “Very organized, good work quality and very clean! Highly recommended!”
• Check availability

Raquel Arevalos

• Customer review: “Raquel got back to me within minutes. I was in a bind moving out with a couple last minute tasks, ie installing towel racks and swapping out a toilet seat, and she was able to help me out day of. I would highly recommend Raquel”
• Check availability

Carlos Handyman

• Customer review: “Carlos is significantly more than a handyman, he’s a craftsman, with many years of construction experience. He rebuilt a retaining wall in my backyard as well as a redwood deck. He also restored a cobblestone path for me. He and his crew completed the job in a little over a week, in less time than estimated, and while it was raining. Where have these guys been all my life?? They’re all highly skilled, professional, friendly, the job site kept very neat, a complete pleasure to work with. I will, without a doubt, work with them again.”
• Check availability

Once you’ve identified those home repairs, Thumbtack can connect you to pros in the San Anselmo-Fairfax area to complete just about any home task. You can hire a house cleaner, electrician, plumber, landscaper and pretty much any other professional you can think of to help you tackle that to-do list. Thumbtack pros even have reviews, so you know exactly what other San Anselmo-Fairfax community members thought of their services.

Need help with a home repair or task in the San Anselmo-Fairfax area? Let the pros at Thumbtack help you get the job done!

Pricing data is based on projects requested on Thumbtack in the past 24 months as reported directly by the independent service professional or individual consumer.

Find out what’s happening in San Anselmo-Fairfaxwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

This post is sponsored and contributed by Thumbtack, a Patch Brand Partner.

The post Want A Restore? Here is How A lot A Handyman Prices In The San Anselmo-Fairfax Space appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Just like how the purchase price of a car is not the entire cost, the purchase price of a house is not the entire cost either. Let’s discuss all the surprising costs that may come after you close escrow.

First of all, these are the unsurprising costs after you purchase a home:

• Monthly mortgage payment
• Home insurance payment
• Property taxes
• General and anticipated maintenance expenses
• Utilities

If you follow my 30/30/3 home-buying rule, you should be able to comfortably afford your home, even if you lose your job for a year or two.

My goal for this post is to highlight as many home ownership costs as possible so you can budget appropriately before and after purchase.

Surprising Costs That Come After You Purchase A Home

Your surprises will depend on your experience in buying a home. The more homes you’ve purchased, the less surprised you will be about these costs.

However, even if you’ve purchased multiple homes before, if you are upgrading homes you will likely still encounter unanticipated costs. This is especially true for folks who move from a condo/townhouse to a single-family home or for people who move from an urban environment to a suburban environment.

To minimize financial stress once you move in, it helps to build all of these costs into your budget in advance.

1) Curtains and blinds

One “trick” stagers and real estate agents like to employ when staging a home is removing all the curtains and blinds. This way, homes seem larger, brighter, and more cheerful. I was advised to remove all the dark heavy curtains in my home when I tried to sell in 2012. Thankfully, I didn’t given that was close to the bottom of the market.

As you are mesmerized by the greater space and natural light, you might forget you will have to buy custom drapes and blinds for many windows in the house if you like privacy. The home seller might still have the old drapes and blinds, but they may be old, hardware could get lost in the shuffle, or they simply may not match your tastes.

I went to a window treatments place called the Shade Store to get a quote for custom curtains and blinds for each room in the home we wanted to buy. The total estimated cost ended up being $25,600, and that was after the 25% designer discount! I was shocked.

Given I didn’t want to spend $25,600 on window treatments, we contacted Smith & Noble, a competing company we’ve used before. After some bargaining, we ended up paying about $9,800 for everything, including installation. It felt great to save over $16,000 on window treatments. But $9,800 is still a lot of money!

2) Bidets and washlets

Now that I’ve used a Toto washlet for over 10 years, I will never buy a home without them. At the very least, electrical outlets and water-line access needs to be near the toilets. Seriously folks, if you haven’t tried a Toto bidet washlet that cleans and dries, you don’t know what’s missing.

In the new house we wanted to buy, luckily, all of the main bathrooms had electrical outlets near the toilets. So I thought we’d be set to install the Toto washlets once we closed. However, after several visits, I realized they were all wall-hung toilets with tanks inside the walls. In addition, there was no water line access because it was also behind the wall!

Luckily, one of the toilets had a hole to the left of the toilet that was covered by a bumper pad. We took the cover off and there was the water pipe. From there, the contractor measured the distance and height from that valve to the center of the toilet. Then, he took a leap of faith and drilled into each of the remaining bathrooms’ wall tiles in hopes of finding the exact access point of the water line.

We bought five Toto washlets that each cost $1,100. We also paid a handyman and a plumber to drill five holes in the wall and install them all for $300 each. Overall, we spent about $7,400.

3) Changing all the locks

For security, it is highly recommended to change all your locks and codes once you purchase a home. Contractors, subcontracts, real estate agents, the previous owner, friends and relatives of the previous owner, and more could all still have copies.

Changing each lock might cost between $30 – $70. If you want help changing fancy gate codes and other special types of locks, you’ll have to pay more as well.

Our cost to update locks totaled $250. Not bad for something so important.

4) Security system – cameras and motion sensors

Your home may have an existing security system. Maybe it’s through ADT, Ring, Xfinity, or another security system. You would think setting up a security system would be as easy as just coming up with a new username and passcode. Then you’d call the security provider for monitoring service and off you’d go.

But it’s not always that simple. In our case, the security system was complicated with multiple cameras, zones, and sensors. We ended up hiring a guy who spent eight hours replacing equipment, changing keypads, testing all devices, and getting everything programmed.

The security installer also set up an internal camera system and a smart lock. It’s some pretty fancy stuff.

His eight hours of time plus new equipment ended up costing us $1,950. Given nothing is more important than the security of my family, I was fine to pay this money. However, the cost was about $1,000 more than I had expected.

5) Broken appliances that weren’t properly tested

A home inspection contingency is important because it gives you the chance to test all appliances, bathrooms, showers, and amenities. It’s not enough to just turn on the shower for one minute and say it works. You need to actually take a 15-minute shower or a 15-minute bath to make sure everything works.

Run the microwave for five minutes while all the lights in the house are on to ensure the house has enough power. Fill up several cups of water from the refrigerator to ensure the filter is working and there are no leaks. Test the garbage disposal. Test the garage door ten times and inspect the spring. Make sure all the windows properly open and shut. Test all the light switches etc.

Even after all your tests, you may still find something broken after you move in. In our case, we had not tested a full load of clothes in the washer and dryer. The seller said the washer and dryer were never used, so we forgot to do a thorough test before we moved.

When we came back to check on our wash 20 minutes later, the laundry room had flooded! We spent an hour mopping up buckets of water and then drying the floor.

When the plumber came, it turned out the filter at the bottom of the washer was loose. As a result, water was just leaking through it. Once he tightened the filter, everything worked. Ugh, such an easy check that could have prevented a lot of stress, time, and work.

Luckily we didn’t run the washer and go away for hours. If we had, there would likely be floor damage. The cost to fix the washer was free given the seller paid for it. Check your washer filter and dryer ducts folks!

6) Higher water and electricity bills

If you move to a bigger house on a larger lot, you will likely face much higher water and electricity bills than you are used to.

These are surprising costs because you’re not really using more electricity than normal. However, because your new home might have a hot tub, another refrigerator, electric instead of gas washers, radiant heat, and more, electricity costs add up.

If you move from a more temperate region to a region with hot summers and cold winters, your water and electricity bills will go way up as well.

Our new home has literally 10X more plants and is on an automatic sprinkler system that goes off for 15 minutes, four times a week. Our first water bill was for over $350 versus $50 normally.

Now that winter has arrived, we’ve turned off our automatic watering system that used to run for 15 minutes, four times a week.

7) New furnishings

If you’re moving into a larger space or are simply tired of your existing furniture and decor, you’ll have the added expense of new furnishings. The margins on furniture are huge and decorating your new home could easily run into the tens of thousands if you want to purchase new, quality pieces.

For example, I have an old desk I got at World Market almost 20 years ago. I loved it at the time, but it’s dated, bulky, and rather ugly now. Looking to replace it, I went to browse at the Room & Board showroom in San Francisco. I found a sleek, modern desk I loved, but it costs $2,000 after tax. Pricey! Now my old desk doesn’t look so shabby after all.

New couches can run between $1,000-$15,000, dining table sets can cost $1,000-$6,000, swivel chairs are between $600 – $2,200, and large area rugs can easily cost $5,000 – $10,000. The list goes on.

If you’re looking for some interior design help, you could pay an interior designer an unlimited amount of money to design every room in your home.

Check out this nice sectional from Arhaus furniture. $9,999 pre-tax for a sectional! Dang! When did furniture get so expensive?

8) Replacement appliances and devices

Never just assume that a home will come with every common appliance and device.

For example, home sellers may choose to take their washer and dryer to their new place. They may choose to take their non built-in microwave and even bathroom mirrors. Or the home may only come with one garage clicker when you need two. Always clarify with the selling agent and the disclosures what is and isn’t actually included in the sale.

Also make sure that nothing is missing before you close. I went to an open house once where the seller had installed over 10 Nest thermostats throughout the house. It seemed overkill to me, but that’s how the house was designed. Anyway, some lookie-loo snuck through the house and ended up stealing three of them, over $700 worth that needed to be replaced and reprogrammed.

We thought the seller was going to leave two wall mirrors in the main bedroom since the house was empty except for these two items during escrow. It turns out the sellers just hadn’t gotten to returning the mirrors to the stager from a year ago. Replacing the mirrors was a surprise cost right before closing.

9) Landscaping, new plants, and tree maintenance

If you’re lucky enough to have yard space at your new home but have never hired a landscaper before, you could be in for a surprise. Depending on how big your outdoor area is and what you want done, you could easily spend tens of thousands of dollars.

This summer, a landscaper quoted me $5,000 to landscape the front yard at one of my rentals. Given it was a simple job and we had some extra succulents, I decided to do the work with my son. Save money, build work ethic, and learn about rental property management. What’s not to love?

Adding retaining walls, leveling uneven ground, installing automatic irrigation systems, and installing outdoor lighting can easily run thousands of dollars. If you’re buying a house that has already been landscaped, learn to appreciate it.

After moving in, you may still have to pay to replace certain plants that may have been neglected. I wanted to replace some tropical looking plants at our new home and was shocked they cost $420 each (pictured on the left)! Luckily, I found a suitable alternative for a much more reasonable $35 per pot (pictured on the right).

$420 exotic plant on the left vs $35 alternative

The Cost Of Tree Removal And Maintenance

You may be faced with the cost of tree trimming or even tree removal. To remove huge trees, I’ve heard quotes of up to $50,000!

Trees, although beautiful, can cause a lot of damage if not properly maintained. In addition, if trees were planted too close to the house, their roots could damage the foundation and cause cracked pipes and leaks during rainy seasons. I know from past experience.

The original landscaper at our home planted three trees that can reach 25-feet heights within six inches of the home’s foundation. These type of trees need at least five feet on each side. Fortunately we realized the landscaper’s errors before we closed escrow and had the seller pay for their removal. We were able to save one ficus tree by replanting it in a different location.

In addition, extreme weather conditions can cause trees to uproot suddenly. We have friends who were displaced from their home for over a year in because of tree damage to their property during the 2021 atmospheric river.

10) The ongoing cost of owning your OLD home

Buying a home during the slow winter months may give you a better deal. However, if you haven’t sold your old home before you buy your new home, then you may have a difficult time selling or renting it out. You may be surprised to discover your old home might take longer to sell or rent out than anticipated.

If you own property that is more suitable for a family, like a single-family house, the best time to sell or rent it out is during late spring or summer. Families will be looking to move once their children are out of school for minimal disruption.

Every month your home goes unsold or unrented is costing you money.

After 20 years of being a landlord, I am picky about who I will rent to. Therefore, I will be taking my time. I’m also undecided on whether to rent out, sell, or keep our former home empty in this weak market. My gut instinct says to find great tenants and hold for the next 20 years.

I love our old home with panoramic ocean views. It’s the ideal work-from-home house. It also has a lot of sentimental value since we raised our kids in it for three years during the pandemic.

No More Surprising Costs After Buying A Home

Now that you’ve read this post, these surprising costs should no longer be surprises. You can now properly budget them into your home purchase costs.

A good rule of thumb is to budget 1% of the cost of your home in ongoing maintenance expenses. Homes need to be repainted, roofs need to be replaced, and water heaters tend to leak after 12-15 years.

You won’t face big home maintenance costs most years. But when it comes time to fix your home, you can draw on your home maintenance reserves to pay for them.

Ideally, you’ll befriend a trusty handyman or contractor who will be able to fix everything for you at a reasonable price. In addition, your guy will do some preventative maintenance before things get bad.

After more than two decade of homeownership, the most common surprise cost of owning a home is water damage. Be vigilant in clear gutters, drains, and clogged pipes. Inspect and fix weak spots in the roof. Check under your sink and kitchen cabinets to see if there are leaks.

Like cancer, the key is to detect the water problem as early as possible before things get really bad!

Related: All The Warning Signs Before Buying A House

Reader Questions And Suggestions

What are some other surprising costs of that come after you purchase a home? Let’s list them all out so that we are never blindsided.

To invest in real estate without all the hassle, check out Fundrise. Fundrise offers funds that mainly invest in residential and industrial properties in the Sunbelt, where valuations are lower and yields are higher.

Listen and subscribe to The Financial Samurai podcast on Apple or Spotify. I interview experts in their respective fields and discuss some of the most interesting topics on this site. Please share, rate, and review!

Join 60,000+ others and sign up for the free Financial Samurai newsletter and posts via e-mail. Financial Samurai is one of the largest independently-owned personal finance sites that started in 2009. 

The post All The Stunning Prices That Come After A Residence Buy appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

The San Jose BART extension is proving to be quite costly, but, on a per-mile basis, it is a bargain compared to a proposed Caltrain extension in San Francisco.

The Portal, a project to extend service from the Caltrain station at Fourth and King streets to the Salesforce Transit Center, is now expected to cost $8.25 billion for just 1.3 miles of additional service.

Since funding for the project is not yet secured, this is a good time to reevaluate and, ideally, shelve this project.

The project is being proposed by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, a partnership of San Francisco, the East Bay’s AC Transit, Caltrain on the Peninsula and the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

It is hard to know how many Caltrain riders would use the extension since the Transbay Joint Powers Authority has not released a post-COVID ridership model. A 2009 analysis from Cambridge Systematics estimated 31,500 weekday riders, but this is now implausible given that weekday ridership throughout the entire Caltrain system averaged only 21,366 in September.

Caltrain no longer produces entrance or exit statistics by station, so we do not know how many of these riders are going all the way up to the station at Fourth and King streets. In 2019, about 47% of Caltrain trips began or ended at the San Francisco terminus. But this ratio may be lower today given the number of companies that have left or downsized in downtown San Francisco.

Extending Caltrain just 1.3 miles provides limited benefits to existing passengers and probably won’t attract many new ones. Riders alighting at Fourth and King can currently transfer to one of two different Muni metro lines that go to various downtown San Francisco locations.

While a single-seat ride to Salesforce Transit Center is undoubtedly more convenient, it would only save most riders a few minutes. This time savings is unlikely to lure many car commuters out of their personal vehicles. As a result, the costly extension would have little impact on climate change.

The Transbay Joint Powers Authority hopes to obtain federal funds to cover about half the project costs. But the Federal Transit Administration considers the quality of state and local funding commitments when choosing which projects to support.

In the case of The Portal, the transbay authority’s funding plan includes $550 million from the California High-Speed Rail Authority. But it is unclear how that agency would find these funds because it does not even have enough money to complete its initial operating segment, from Merced to Bakersfield.

The bullet train’s challenges not only threaten to undermine The Portal’s funding, but also undermine another justification for the project. Planners expect the Caltrain service to Salesforce Transit Center to be augmented by high-speed rail service from Central and Southern California. But that would require an additional tens of billions of dollars to finish the bullet train, money that has yet to materialize. And with the federal budget deficit rising against a background of higher interest rates, it is hard to see the federal government coming up with additional bullet-train funding in the next few years.

If the bullet-train funding is acquired, engineers will have the difficult task of constructing a new tunnel under Pacheco Pass to connect the Central Valley initial operating segment with the Caltrain right-of-way.

Given funding and engineering challenges for high-speed rail, it is unlikely that bullet trains would reach San Fracisco until at least the late 2030s.

Under these circumstances, the transbay authority should defer its bid for federal funds until the bullet train’s Pacheco Pass segment is clearly on track. And, even then, advocates should provide solid evidence that Caltrain and the bullet train would deliver a large number of passengers to downtown San Francisco.

Marc Joffe is a federalism and state policy analyst at the Cato Institute.

The post Caltrain’s San Francisco extension prices greater than it’s value appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

The Caltrain extension in San Francisco is being proposed by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, a partnership of San Francisco, the East Bay’s AC Transit, Caltrain on the Peninsula and the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

The San Jose BART extension is proving to be quite costly, but, on a per-mile basis, it is a bargain compared to a proposed Caltrain extension in San Francisco.

The Portal, a project to extend service from the Caltrain station at Fourth and King streets to the Salesforce Transit Center, is now expected to cost $8.25 billion for just 1.3 miles of additional service.

Since funding for the project is not yet secured, this is a good time to reevaluate and, ideally, shelve this project.

The project is being proposed by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, a partnership of San Francisco, the East Bay’s AC Transit, Caltrain on the Peninsula and the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

It is hard to know how many Caltrain riders would use the extension since the Transbay Joint Powers Authority has not released a post-COVID ridership model. A 2009 analysis from Cambridge Systematics estimated 31,500 weekday riders, but this is now implausible given that weekday ridership throughout the entire Caltrain system averaged only 21,366 in September.

Caltrain no longer produces entrance or exit statistics by station, so we do not know how many of these riders are going all the way up to the station at Fourth and King streets. In 2019, about 47% of Caltrain trips began or ended at the San Francisco terminus. But this ratio may be lower today given the number of companies that have left or downsized in downtown San Francisco.

Extending Caltrain just 1.3 miles provides limited benefits to existing passengers and probably won’t attract many new ones. Riders alighting at Fourth and King can currently transfer to one of two different Muni metro lines that go to various downtown San Francisco locations.

While a single-seat ride to Salesforce Transit Center is undoubtedly more convenient, it would only save most riders a few minutes. This time savings is unlikely to lure many car commuters out of their personal vehicles. As a result, the costly extension would have little impact on climate change.

The Transbay Joint Powers Authority hopes to obtain federal funds to cover about half the project costs. But the Federal Transit Administration considers the quality of state and local funding commitments when choosing which projects to support.

In the case of The Portal, the transbay authority’s funding plan includes $550 million from the California High-Speed Rail Authority. But it is unclear how that agency would find these funds because it does not even have enough money to complete its initial operating segment, from Merced to Bakersfield.

The bullet train’s challenges not only threaten to undermine The Portal’s funding, but also undermine another justification for the project. Planners expect the Caltrain service to Salesforce Transit Center to be augmented by high-speed rail service from Central and Southern California. But that would require an additional tens of billions of dollars to finish the bullet train, money that has yet to materialize. And with the federal budget deficit rising against a background of higher interest rates, it is hard to see the federal government coming up with additional bullet-train funding in the next few years.

If the bullet-train funding is acquired, engineers will have the difficult task of constructing a new tunnel under Pacheco Pass to connect the Central Valley initial operating segment with the Caltrain right-of-way.

Given funding and engineering challenges for high-speed rail, it is unlikely that bullet trains would reach San Fracisco until at least the late 2030s.

Under these circumstances, the transbay authority should defer its bid for federal funds until the bullet train’s Pacheco Pass segment is clearly on track. And, even then, advocates should provide solid evidence that Caltrain and the bullet train would deliver a large number of passengers to downtown San Francisco.

Marc Joffe is a federalism and state policy analyst at the Cato Institute.

The post Caltrain’s San Francisco extension prices greater than it’s value appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Average cost: “The global average cost of a roof replacement, likewise anchored to my experience, is roughly $7,500, with many consumers spending between $4,000 and $10,000,” Hone says. But he admits that your roof type—as well as the type of asphalt shingles you pick—can make a difference. A slate roof, for instance, costs around $20 per square foot, which can be $40,000 on average. To determine what your home might need, check a roofing calculator.

“A typical chimney maintenance fee ranges from $800 to $2,500, with higher chimneys of 10 feet or over costing more than $4,500—which is worth every coin, since we are talking about house security, which no individual would want to compromise,” Hone says. You’ll also want to call in a chimney sweep to clean out the fireplace before you start using it again, which can range between $100 to $200. 

5. Waterproofing the basement

You may be accustomed to housing problems starting at the top, but they can also originate from the bottom. Water in your basement can result in mold and also damage the home’s foundation. During the home inspection, Green recommends paying special attention to any water damage or cracks, noting that these issues need to be fixed ASAP to avoid additional damage. “You can also check landscaping for water pockets and sloped land, both of which can indicate excess water,” he adds.  

The basement’s sump pump is the first line of defense since it prevents excess water from building up in the home, and Green says it should be inspected for any type of damage such as broken float switches and faulty check valves. “Be sure to also install a backup in case of a power outage and monitor your sump pump’s system to make sure everything is working properly,” he says. “Schedule annual maintenance or checkups of your sump pump to catch problems before they cause major damage and floods.”  

Another thing to consider: Former owners may not know (or have kept up with) the last time sump pumps or septic systems were serviced. “It’s best to always err on the side of caution and proactively check things out after getting the keys to the home,” Green says. “If that older home doesn’t have window-well covers, consider having one installed to protect basement windows and stop leaks before they start.”  

Average cost: It’s almost impossible to project how much waterproofing will cost, as it varies greatly per project. According to research data on Angi, basement waterproofing can range between $2,300 and $7,576, costing $4,920 on average. Something more extensive, like installing a new drainage system, can cost upward of $14,000. 

6. Updating or restoring windows

Windows are an essential way to keep your home protected from the outside, and when you have an old home with single-pane windows, it can quickly lead to heat and cold transference. This transfer allows heat to escape during the winter and cool air to leak during the summer, ultimately making your HVAC system, if you have one, work harder to maintain comfortable indoor temperatures. By repairing windows right away, you can help to decrease your utility bills and the strain on your HVAC system.

The post Shopping for an Previous Home? 8 Hidden Prices of Shifting right into a Historic Residence appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

• By Robin Sheeran
• BBC News NI

23 October 2022

Image source, Getty Images

People in Northern Ireland need to be aware of the dangers involved with heating their homes this winter, the fire and rescue service has warned.

As the cost of living continues to rise, for some it could mean turning to energy sources which have not been regularly serviced.

Chimney sweep Craig Morrow told BBC News NI he recently worked on a chimney which had not been swept for 20 years.

This was down on 809 the previous year.

There has also been a 50% decrease in house fire fatalities, with three recorded during the same period. That is down from six in 2018/19.

However, firefighters have issued safety tips and a warning that if people turn to older electrical heaters or cut corners with servicing, there could be a fire risk.

Group Commander Suzanne Fleming said portable heaters that had not been used for some time is a particular concern.

Check the cable is not frayed and don’t place the heater too close to a sofa or curtains, she warned.

“Open fires would be the other great risk,” Ms Fleming continued.

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“If people try to use chimneys that haven’t been used for some time they may actually be blocked,” she told BBC News NI.

Turning to the dangers of carbon monoxide, the danger comes “with any fossil fuel that you burn”.

“It will make you drowsy and you won’t know you’re getting drowsy,” the senior firefighter said.

Image caption,

Chimney sweeps can be booked up months ahead

Craig Morrow, a chimney sweep who is based in Belfast, said “all it takes is one hot ember to go up the chimney” to cause a chimney fire.

He advised that people should have chimneys swept at least once a year, or twice if it is in use during the summer.

A chimney fire, he explained, can start when a type of soot called creosote forms.

Wood-burning stoves, gas fires and Aga-type cooker chimneys also need to be cleaned, he added.

Mr Morrow warned that some people have turned to using chimneys which had been dormant for decades, partly due to it being a cheaper source of energy as prices rise.

‘Test appliances’

Gas engineer Gordon Glenn said boilers need to be regularly maintained.

“Some insurance policies will make your home insurance null and void if your boiler has not been serviced once a year,” he said.

Carbon monoxide alarms too, as these will “usually last for seven years,” he explained.

“It’s a secondary level of householder safety. For the price of a carbon monoxide detector and a proper inspection by a qualified person it could save somebody’s life.

“You wouldn’t ride a bike to Dublin that’s been sitting for 12 months without checking the brakes first, so why would you use an appliance that hasn’t been tested,” he added.

If you’re having gas appliances serviced you’ll need to find an engineer who’s on the Gas Safe Register.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Firefighters are concerned people could be creating fire hazards by cutting back on costs

How to stay safe

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service has compiled a list of safety measures for people to follow in their homes.

• Those with chimneys that have not been used for a while must ensure they are not blocked. They must be serviced by a qualified person
• Always use a fire guard for an open fire
• A carbon monoxide alarm must be in the same room as a fire – fires can produce carbon monoxide which you cannot see nor smell
• Portable heaters or electric blankets must be checked first – no frayed wires or damaged, loose wiring
• Do not overload plug sockets – this can cause overheating
• When using portable heaters do not place items in front of them – they can catch fire. Do not leave them unattended and turn them off before going to sleep
• Do not dry clothes on portable heaters

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SAN FRANCISCO — Homeless people in California are already a vulnerable group, often struggling with poor health, trauma and deep poverty before they lose their housing, according to a new study on adult homelessness.

The study released Tuesday by the University of California, San Francisco attempts to capture a comprehensive picture of how people become homeless in California, and what impeded their efforts at finding permanent housing. The representative survey of nearly 3,200 homeless people found that when they lost housing, their median household income was $960 a month, and for renters on leases it was $1,400 a month, of which on average half went to rent.

Homelessness is a national crisis, and all too pervasive in California, where an estimated 171,000 people — or 30% of all homeless people in the U.S. — are homeless. Political leaders are divided over how to address the crisis, with some, including Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, favoring tent encampment sweeps and a tough-love approach toward those with mental health and addiction issues.

It it not groundbreaking news that the state’s exorbitant housing costs are a major driver behind homelessness, but researchers at the UCSF’s Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative hope that the study will strengthen public support for policies that focus on offering housing and emergency rental assistance — rather than policies emphasizing punishment or stigma.

“People are homeless because their rent is too high. And their options are too few. And they have no cushion,” said Dr. Margot Kushel, initiative director and lead investigator. “And it really makes you wonder how different things would look if we could solve that underlying problem.”

Kushel’s team surveyed nearly 3,200 adults around California, and followed up to conduct in-depth interviews with 365 people, between October 2021 and November 2022.

The study found that Black people made up 26% of the homeless population in a state where they are only 6% of the general population. About 90% of participants were living in California when they became homeless. Half reported an inability to work due to age, health or disability. The median length of homelessness was a little under two years.

More than a third of adults surveyed met the criteria for chronic homelessness, meaning they had a disabling condition and were homeless for at least 1 year — or were homeless four times in the previous three years totaling more than 12 months.

In Los Angeles in 2015, Sage Johnson’s mother was evicted from their apartment when she was unable to meet rent that had increased to $1,200. In disability pay, she received about $1,340 a month. She bounced around, from LA’s notorious Skid Row to various convalescent homes while her daughter lived at a shelter.

Later, Johnson, 28, was able to place her mother in a home, where she stayed for about two years. In 2018 though, her mother died from a debilitating stroke.

Johnson, who now has stable housing, wishes she could have done more.

“But in the end, she did have a bed. She was inside. She didn’t have any more strokes outside. And she was able to regenerate and rejuvenate and restore some of her life while in the convalescent home,” said Johnson, a co-chair for one of the study’s advisory boards.

Among study participants, substance abuse and issues with mental health were common and predated becoming homeless. Of those surveyed, 45% reported current, regular use of cocaine, amphetamines and opioids or heavy episodic drinking. Participants described how heavy substance use contributed to losing their homes, but also how methamphetamine usage allowed them to stay alert to protect themselves from assault or theft.

Nearly half of the adults surveyed were not on a lease in the six months prior to becoming homeless, and had likely moved in with family or friends, contributing to rent when they could. Nearly a quarter cited conflict among housemates, desire for more space or not wanting to impose any longer on family and friends as primary reasons they left.

On average, people surveyed who were not on leases received only one day of warning before needing to move out.

Among people on rental lease agreements, more than 20% cited income loss or reduction as the primary reason they lost housing. “So it wasn’t so much that their housing costs increased, it’s that they could no longer keep up with it,” said Kushel.

California ranks as the most unaffordable state when it comes to housing, according to an annual report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. A person earning an hourly minimum wage of $15.50 would have to work nearly 90 hours a week to afford the statewide average for a modest one-bedroom rental, which is nearly $1,800 a month, the coalition states.

The study was requested by Newsom’s administration, which has made addressing homelessness a priority, but the state did not fund it so didn’t play a role in analyzing data or interpreting the findings.

The report makes many recommendations, including deep expansion of rental assistance and pilot programs to facilitate shared housing for people seeking to get out of homelessness — and a rental stipend program for people living temporarily with family or friends.

Johnson said she hopes the public will find the report’s findings to be evidence that tax dollars are being put to good use in social safety net spending. She also hopes that people will support robust mental health and addiction treatment services along with affordable housing options.

“I don’t want to set anyone up for failure,” she said. “And I’m sure many of my peers can agree that folks need time to practice going back to, like, regular society life.”

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Zillow and Thumbtack’s new analysis identifies the additional costs homebuyers face, including utilities, insurance, maintenance and property taxes

• Homeowners can expect a payment $14,155 one year or $1,180 per month in hidden costs associated with owning a home.
• These annual costs can be up to high $22,791 in the san francisco metro area and as low as $9,886 In Las Vegas.
• Affordability is the number one challenge for first-time home buyers. Zillow’s affordability calculator and Thumbtack’s new monthly expense finder tool and personalized maintenance guides can help buyers factor these expenses into their budgets.

SEATTLE And SAN FRANCISCO, June 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The daily cost of owning a home is higher than ever, according to a new analysis by Zillow® and Thumbtack. Utility bills, property taxes, insurance, and essential maintenance can add up $14,155 per year for the average US homeowner. This is an addition $1,180 per month in addition to a typical mortgage payment. First-time home buyers, faced with affordability issues in today’s market, need to understand and factor in these less obvious expenses when calculating how much home they can afford.

Zillow and Thumbtack: Top 10 metropolitan areas with the highest hidden annual home ownership costs

These costs can be surprisingly high, and even higher, in already expensive metropolitan areas $22,000 annually in san francisco, new York And The angel. Of the 39 metropolitan areas analyzed, the hidden cost of owning a home is the lowest Las Vegas ($9,886); Asheville, North Carolina ($11,318); And st louis ($11,824).

Zillow and Thumbtack’s research looked at three unavoidable expenses for single-family homeowners — property taxes, home insurance, and utilities (electricity, water, natural gas, and internet) — and found that they were average $7,742 total nationwide. New Yorkers pay the highest property taxes, even more $9,000 per year, while the cost of supply is the highest Hartford, Connecticutaveraging $4,443 a year. The cost of homeowners insurance varies by home value, so homeowners in the cheapest metropolitan areas, such as Pittsburgh And Clevelandhave the added benefit of lower insurance costs.

The analysis also considered Thumbtack’s 17 major home maintenance projects, based on data from millions of home projects completed across the country. These projects have an overall average $6,413 yearly. Average maintenance costs are highest in The angel And Chicagoin total $8,639 And $7,722 or Meanwhile, homeowners are in Las Vegas can count on being paid fairly $3,467 per year to maintain their homes.

“Just as you would visit a mechanic regularly to keep your car in good condition and avoid big bills, your home also needs the same routine maintenance to make sure everything is running smoothly,” he said David Steckel, Thumbtack’s home expert. “Keeping track of your home’s annual maintenance not only increases the value of your home, but also avoids emergency repairs that can break the homeowner’s budget.”

Almost half of all homebuyers (45%) are first-time buyers, and they may be surprised by these costs and don’t consider them when budgeting for a home. By starting on the Home Loans tab on the Zillow homepage, buyers can use an affordability calculator to find out how much they can afford and then connect with a loan officer to find out more than just which mortgage they qualify for , but also what they would like to pay. Given these additional costs. With that budget, buyers can then use a new app filter on Zillow to buy homes by monthly cost instead of purchase price.

“Understanding all of the costs that come with homeownership can impact not only a buyer’s budget, but also the type of home they’re buying,” said Zillow home trends expert Amanda Pendleton. “While a large backyard or home can be attractive, it’s important to consider how much these spaces could cost to maintain. Buyers may want to consider affordable alternatives to single-family homes, or spend more upfront for a new construction home that might require less maintenance in the short term.”

Once buyers have closed the deal, Thumbtack is the point of contact to help you care for your new home. By entering the location and features of their home on Thumbtack, homeowners can receive personalized guidance on what projects to complete, when, and who to hire to complete the work. This will help homeowners create prioritized maintenance schedules that work within their budgets and cover everything from moving house cleaning to tree trimming and roof maintenance.

methodology

In this analysis, property taxes were calculated using the average effective tax rate in each metro area multiplied by the area’s average home value as measured by the Zillow Home Value Index.

In estimating the cost of insurance, this analysis assumed that homeowners pay 0.5% of their home’s value each year, which was calculated as 0.005 times the region’s average home value as measured by the Zillow Home Value Index.

Utility costs were calculated using the unweighted average of all states, excluding streaming and phone bill costs, as reported by Forbes.

Annual home maintenance costs are made up of thumbtack categories that are considered essential annual home maintenance tasks: appliance maintenance, carpet cleaning, central air conditioning maintenance, patio staining and sealing, duct and vent cleaning, chimney and chimney cleaning, lawn with comprehensive Services Gutter care, cleaning and maintenance, heating system maintenance, house cleaning, pressure washing, roof maintenance, sprinkler and irrigation system maintenance, tile and grout cleaning, tree pruning and removal, water heater maintenance and window cleaning.

Pricing data is based on Thumbtack requested projects reported directly by the independent services professional or individual clients. The cost is an unweighted index of all annual home maintenance projects and is calculated quarterly using a moving average.

About the Zillow Group

Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z) (NASDAQ:ZG) is rethinking real estate to make it easier to move on to the next chapter in life. Most visited real estate website in The United StatesZillow® and its subsidiaries provide customers with a transparent and easy on-demand experience to sell, buy, rent or finance.

Zillow Group affiliates, brands and subsidiaries include Zillow®; Zillow Premier Agent®; Zillow Home Loans; Zillow Closing Services; Trulia®; Out East®; StreetEasy®; HotPads®; and ShowingTime+℠, which hosts ShowingTime®, Bridge Interactive®, and dotloop®, as well as interactive floorplans. Zillow Home Loans, LLC is an Equal Housing Lender, NMLS #10287 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org).

About thumbtack

Thumbtack is a technology leader developing the modern home management platform. With the Thumbtack app, homeowners can effortlessly manage their homes—and confidently know what to do, when, and who to hire. Bring them 600 billion dollars Thumbtack is an online platform for the home services industry, enabling millions of homeowners to repair, maintain and improve their most valuable asset. Hundreds of thousands of local service professionals, from painters and plumbers to photographers and electricians, use the Thumbtack platform each year to grow their business.

SOURCE Zillow Group, Inc.

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