If You Want to Buy a House, First Figure Out Hidden Costs

Besides the mortgage, count on having money for taxes, insurance, maintenance and more

- By JOE PINSKER

You saved for the down payment and worked the mortgage bill into your monthly budget. But what about all those other costs that come with owning a home?

Homeowner's insurance, routine maintenance, property taxes and utilities have all been getting more expensive lately.

Those expenses added up to an average of $1,180 a month, according to a report in June 2023 from the real-estate firm Zillow and the home-improvement tech company Thumbtack. The monthly mortgage payment for a typical home, assuming a 20% down payment, was $1,770.

"People think that once they are over that hump of making that big purchase, that the rest of it is just smooth sailing," says Noah Damsky, the founder of Marina Wealth Advisors in Los Angeles. "In reality, it's just the start of the costs."

The burden of these nonmortgage extras can come as a surprise to first-time buyers and can be the difference between a happy homeowner and an unhappy one. Here's how to run the numbers.

Home insurance

Many buyers don't figure out the price of insuring a house until after they have committed to buying it. That can be a mistake.

"Get actual quotes for some of the properties you are looking at so that you're not blindsided," says Eric Tyson, a financial adviser and co-author of "Home Buying for Dummies."