Hidden Costs to Plan for When Buying a New Home

Buying a new home can be an exciting time, but what isn’t exciting is hidden costs popping up that you didn’t plan for. They happen often and can catch buyers unaware and underwater on a new home. There are the easy things to plan for like appraisal and lender fees, but most costs that go beyond those can vary in range of what they could be and how much.

Pay Attention to the Previous Homeowners

Most people don’t think about the previous homeowners being one of the biggest factors affecting your move-in costs, but they absolutely can be. For example if they take the fridge of any large appliance you weren’t expecting them to then that is one more thing that you have to buy when you move in, and large appliances can add up quickly especially when you didn’t factor those costs into your budget.

Making Your House a Home

Is your new home wired for cable? Plan to paint right away? Changing light fixtures? What are the average costs for the home’s utility bills, water and garbage pickup? All this you may have thought of, but not budgeted for and depending what you do can put a huge dent in your wallet the first month after you move in.

Be Prepared

You probably saw this coming but the best way to avoid any of the money stressors above is to be prepared before you sign on the dotted line. Do your research and planning and create a budget before house hunting so you know exactly what you are looking to spend outside of just the house cost. There is no limit to how prepared you can be so research home insurance and property prices in the areas you’re considering, clearly define how much you want to put toward a down payment, and then look at how much that leaves for all the “unexpected costs” like home improvements, new appliances, etc.

These simple and easy steps will help ensure that the house buying process will be as stress free as possible with no unexpected costs that you haven’t planned for along the way.