Before buying a house...

amother

Tue, May 14 2019, 8:35 am

Please make sure you can actually afford it. I moved about a year ago and there's a very big chance I might move back.
We did our homework (but I guess not totally). We redid our budget countless times, yet we are falling behind.
The biggest reason I think this happened is because one tiny thing we did not do and in hindsight it is very important! When we were looking at the house we ended up buying, we should've asked the home owners what their bills were on average a month. Central ac/heating, gas, water, electric etc etc. Had we done that, I don't think we would be in the red as we are now. We are struggling to stay afloat.
There are so many little expenses that keep on cropping up too.

So I guess take this as a PSA: look at all the bills from previous owner, see if you can actually afford your new place.

amother

Lavender

Tue, May 14 2019, 8:46 am

Definitely people forget to look at many things: when moving to a different town I know people struggled with
Higher tuition
Higher groceries
Maintenance of a house

Where I live it’s known that a lot of the people that moved here and bought houses are on tomchei Shabbos!!

thunderstorm

Tue, May 14 2019, 8:56 am

When we were buying we requested a copy of the homeowners utility bills so we could see what the average was. I'm sorry OP that you are going through this right now.

L25

Tue, May 14 2019, 8:57 am

totally agree op. There's so many extra expenses. In addition to things like gas, water, electric... there's also often home repairs needed. The driveway is cracking, the hvac is broken so you have no heat, the roof is leaking, the basement is flooding... some houses are more "money pits" then others but all cost money.

Previous amother- that's crazy- how can the community sustain so many people moving in and requiring charity?

amother

Ginger

Tue, May 14 2019, 8:59 am

L25 wrote:

One of the wealthiest communities in the tri-state area has several mega mansions on their tomchei shabbos list.
OP, we went through this also.
Didn't account for the really high taxes in the area and the cost of heating an old home.
We ended up needing help from our parents to bail us out. Thank G-d we had them.
We sold and moved to a cheaper area. (and paid our parents back in installments)

L25

Tue, May 14 2019, 9:08 am

I always thought people bought the mansions when they could afford and now they are going through hard times and therefore need tomchei shabbos. That wasn't what the previous poster sounded like she was describing. Either way OP I really get you, and feel for you, it's hard to fathom how expensive it's going to be if you aren't properly warned. Thank you for giving other people the PSA! I hope things work out for you where ever you end up. Good luck!

amother

Coffee

Tue, May 14 2019, 10:45 am

A lot of people didn't realize what it would cost to maintain a 4,000 SF house how much just heating and air conditioning landscaping maintenance of pool.
ETA: In Toms River, NJ

Rappel

Tue, May 14 2019, 10:50 am

amother [ Coffee ] wrote:

A lot of people didn't realize what it would cost to maintain a 4,000 SF house how much just heating and air conditioning landscaping maintenance of pool.

The problems of the Nouveau Riche Sad

I never associated mansions with tomchei Shabbat. That's really bizarre to me.

To the OP - thanks for the heads up! It's tips like these which will make or break us when we do buy.

amother

Crimson

Tue, May 14 2019, 10:52 am

Op, thanks for the warning. I posted on here a while ago asking for the expenses of a house, I didnt really get much info, but the high costs besides mortgage is wats stopping us from buying bec we have a big downpayment but wont be able to pay all the heating/water/ac..higher monthly bills and the costs of unexpected repairs like roof /boiler etc...

Thanks for the warning, and I'm sorry for your situation.