The American dream of owning your own home is still alive and well. Today, many people got burnt for many reasons, but if you want to own your first house and finances that come with it you can avoid the same fate with some planning.
Own your first house and finances that come with it is a phrase you rarely hear and it explains part of the reason people get into trouble with their house payments.
You see people rarely stop to think if they can afford to get a certain home. All they think about is the house payment which will usually include the principle of the loan, the interest of the loan, the homeowners insurance premiums and the property taxes.
But, there are other expenses associated with owning your own home. If you don’t have a budget that can accommodate these other expenses you can find yourself in over your head very quickly.
Most of these extra expenses seem like common sense, and they are, but if you have never had your own home they are things you may overlook when you are putting together your budget to determine how much home you can afford.
Here are just a few of the things you need to take into consideration. Of course, these things must be factored in in addition to your mortgage payment:
1. Maintenance is one of the biggest things people forget about when buying a home. If you are used to living in an apartment you are used to picking up the phone and having someone fix an issue.
You aren’t used to having to pick up the phone and hiring someone to fix the issue. With apartment living you don’t have to pay for these repairs, when you own your own home you do have to pay for them.
Simple, but often overlooked.
2. Another mistake is forgetting that maintenance can be about more than just fixing something when it breaks. It means painting the walls, inside and possibly outside, it means keeping the grass cut and fertilized.
It means keeping the sidewalks and driveway shoveled. In addition to that ongoing maintenance there are also times when things will get old and stop working.