House questions...

amother

Ivory

Tue, May 10 2016, 3:17 pm

Considering buying a house IYH in the future. what sort of costs are there with home ownership vs renting?
One time costs like : closing costs?
Steady costs? mortgage

I know I will have to pay my own water bill and even though I have paid my gas/electric until now these will likely be a lot more because it will be a bigger place.
Security costs what?
How much to expect in repairs?
How to estimate home insurance against theft/fire etc?

Anything else?before we make the jump I want to know what to expect...

thunderstorm

Tue, May 10 2016, 3:25 pm

You have to know if you will have a landscaper/snow plower, if they charge for garbage disposal in the area where you will be purchasing. My MIL has to pay for garbage pickup where she is.
Our hot water tank died less than 6 months after we moved in, our pipes burst in the winter and we had to put in a new kitchen. We moved in with the existing kitchen but realized after what a bad state it was in...we purchased all new appliances. We purchased more beds to put into the additional bedrooms we now had. It's never ending, but you have to budget and know what's a necessity and what's just a luxury right now.

amother

Ivory

Tue, May 10 2016, 3:38 pm

Thanks all! So taxes are high here but we won't need snow plowing or have to worry about pipes bursting in the winter...
How much to estimate repairs at? If a 3BR home? How to make an estimate even?
I don't want to do renovations... I would like it to be move-in ready (but obviously down the line we can budget separately for this).

More furniture. Extra towels and linens for guest bed/bath if there is one. Again, not necessary right away and we can budget for them.
What else would I not think of?

FranticFrummie

Tue, May 10 2016, 3:48 pm

Are you looking at new construction, or an older home? If you can afford it, get the best inspector money can buy. I used to flip houses for a living, back when the market was booming. Let me tell you a couple of horror stories...

When I bought my first home, within the first 6 months my basement flooded so high that it put out the pilot light in my furnace, the roof leaked in 8 places, and the drywall in the kitchen and living room got black mold. Of course, the heat had to go out in the middle of winter, in one of the worst storms in ages, and the house was damp and smelly until I got everything ripped out and replaced. Well, that was about 25,000 dollars I wasn't prepared for!

Oh, and then the next year my sewer line collapsed, and my homeowner's insurance didn't cover anything outside of the foundation area. I had to pay 9,000 out of pocket to cover the work from the foundation to the street main.

Another thing. Hang out in your potential new neighborhood late at night, for at least a few nights. One lovely house I was considering was in a quiet, tree lined area by day, but at night it turned into a war zone between two drug gangs! shock

Realtors seem to leave that part out of the description. Confused

I could go on and on, but you'd have to buy me a glass of wine first. Cheers

amother

Lemon

Tue, May 10 2016, 6:40 pm

amother wrote:

You need 10% of the purchase price available for unexpected extra repairs that you did not anticipate at all. That's in addition to the repairs you see are needed and know about.

amother

Chartreuse

Tue, May 10 2016, 6:48 pm

Bizzydizzymommy wrote:

OP, one more thing to look into...many homes especially those of non jewish owners dont have ceiling lights in most rooms of the house. They use plug in lamps. That was one of my expenses right away, putting in lighting in the dining room, living room and playroom. We were lucky that the bedrooms had ceiling lights, there are many homes that dont have even that

Yes, some places use lamps instead of ceiling lights but this is really a preference. Why would this be a necessary expense? And why is this a non-Jewish thing?

amother

Ivory

Tue, May 10 2016, 6:57 pm

Thanks all!

So a few questions...

Is the 10% estimate based off anything? A 2 million home and a 200,000 home of the same size (just because you live in an expensive in-eruv location) won't have the potential for the same repairs needed? Why would a sewer in Beverly Hills 90210 cost more to repair than the same size one in Montanta or Kansas?

Why is the lamp vs overhead a jewish/frum thing?

sky

Tue, May 10 2016, 7:13 pm

- I never figured out the over head light thing. When you read decorating books they actually recommend many times not to have too much lighting and rely on lamps to create mood lighting. Many houses not built specifically for frum Jews have very little lighting - living room and bedrooms often don't have and the kitchen has minimal . if not putting in lighting need some lamps (not so expensive).
- Window treatments. Previous owners may leave those or they may take it. It can be pretty cheap to do through walmart, but each window will cost, or you can go more high end.
- Rugs and towels for additional bathrooms are optional and minimal.
- Taxes. In our town it can be anywhere from 4,000 - 12,000 for a normal sized home and upwards.
- House insurance - the rate will be based on your home and neighborhood
- Regular Exterior - cutting the grass, sealing the driveway, cleaning the gutters, raking the leaves, trimming bushes, cutting tree branches that overhang house or succah, etc.
- Large Irregular expenses - Plumbing, appliances, electrical work, roof, bugs, rodents, Hot water heater, furnace, A\C.
- You mentioned security - you can pay for services monthly if needed in your neighborhood, installing security system, cameras, etc.

I never heard the 10% number. But maybe services are more expensive? Does a plumber in beverley hills charge more? no clue.

A good inspector should give you a basic idea of what is needed - roof, furnace, a/c, fuse box, hot water and how long it may last for. Hopefully there won't be any surprises above that.
Our home was 300,000 we spent almost nothing after moving in. DH put in the ceiling lights himself, there was the cost of supplies but it was still 60% less than hiring someone. It probably would have been about $2000 full price. Bedrooms also had no lights so we put in ciecling fan lights in both - $100 for 2 cheap fans that have so far lasted 10 years. But DH did installation. We also had a surprise that the fridge didn't work out - we bought a cheap one for about $400. So our move in expenses were under $1500. Other then that we put in no money when moving in - far less than the 10%.

Last edited by sky on Tue, May 10 2016, 7:20 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Slategray

Tue, May 10 2016, 7:33 pm

amother wrote:

Because the plumbers in 90210 charge based on the going rate for their market which is higher than that of Lawrence KS (for ex.).

thunderstorm

Wed, May 11 2016, 9:12 am

amother wrote:

Yes, some places use lamps instead of ceiling lights but this is really a preference. Why would this be a necessary expense? And why is this a non-Jewish thing?

Perhaps it's not a jewish thing, but definitely in heimish circles, the families have more lighting and brighter, whiter lighting as well. My non jewish neighbors all have what appear to be orange lights, I dont know how they see a thing!
I honestly dont know how the people lived in such darkness before we moved in...my kids were complaining too until we installed the lights in the dining room, living room and playroom and we also added lighting in our kitchen...sitting in a semi dark room at the Shabbos table was very unappealing it just made everything seem so dingy. I guess it goes by preference but I do know that most people who I know DO put in more lighting overhead when they purchase these homes that are limited with ceiling lights. Very few appreciate just lamps. My DH always says "A Yiddishe home should be a lechtige home" and I couldnt agree more, it makes a difference in everybody's mood.

amother

Ivory

Thu, May 12 2016, 2:05 pm

Bizzydizzymommy wrote:

Weird, as non frum relatives have brighter homes than many frum families I know! I just put in LEDs and love them... But again on a recommendation of someone not frum/jewish.

Anything else to estimate? Know before?