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Forum -> Household Management -> Finances
All the real costs of buying a home and life after the fact



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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, Oct 07 2021, 8:13 am
Break it down for me
How much do you need on hand?
How much are closing costs?
Hw much is taxes?
Where are the hidden expenses

Alsoo
If you didn't get money from parents or grandparents
If you didn't have the entrie amount for a a down payment

How are you living day to day while paying mortgage plus paying back
what you borrowed for downpayment
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torquoise




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Oct 07 2021, 8:26 am
It would help if you provided some details, such as the state you're looking to buy a house in (for taxes) and the price range your looking to spend.
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, Oct 07 2021, 8:28 am
New York / Rockland County
[isn't that the world Wink]

I can only afford something relatively cheap
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amother
Lilac


 

Post Thu, Oct 07 2021, 8:43 am
I can tell you our story.
We were living in a place where a small 2 bedroom apt was $2k a month.
Had $35k to put down. ( From money I had made while single plus spending carefully the past few years)
Found a house in a farther out community (closer to our jobs even) for 425k.
Put down 20k for down payment , set aside 15k for closing costs (ended up being like 13 I think). Needed to spend 3k on minor work (we knew about ahead), 2k on moving costs(boxes, movers, etc). Spent about 1k on new furniture, but almost all of that was guestroom plus nursery for new baby (aka would need to have bought it anyway). There are definitely matainance costs, but with handiness you can deal with some yourself.
Our mortgage is 2k a month plus another thousand in taxes each month. Our car insurance went down. Our commuting costs went way down.
In our particular town daycare costs more than where we used to live.

Basically, my husband's paycheck covers mortgage, taxes, food. Mine covers childcare and clothing.
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amother
Mintgreen


 

Post Thu, Oct 07 2021, 8:44 am
Many of these things are going to depend on where you live, cost of the home, condition of the home you purchase, etc. For a rough estimate I can tell you we purchased a home in NY (not Rockland County or NYC) in the mid 500,000s. Our closing costs were between $18,000-$19,000. Monthly property tax is approximately $1,400 a month (almost as much as our actual mortgage payment, which is crazy). Additional expenses include things like paying for an inspection, unexpected repairs (we needed to replace our boiler only 3 months after moving in), additional mezuzahs you may need to purchase if your new home has more doorways, window blinds (if the new home doesn't come with them), furniture if you are moving to a bigger space and need additional furniture or need to replace stuff that no longer for the new space, paying for the actual move.... All I can say is that it ends up being more than you expect so definitely have more than you think you need on hand.
Also, the bank usually likes to see that you have a cushion in your account. They don't want to see that you only have exactly enough for the closing.
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justforfun87




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Oct 07 2021, 8:48 am
amother [ Lilac ] wrote:
I can tell you our story.
We were living in a place where a small 2 bedroom apt was $2k a month.
Had $35k to put down. ( From money I had made while single plus spending carefully the past few years)
Found a house in a farther out community (closer to our jobs even) for 425k.
Put down 20k for down payment , set aside 15k for closing costs (ended up being like 13 I think). Needed to spend 3k on minor work (we knew about ahead), 2k on moving costs(boxes, movers, etc). Spent about 1k on new furniture, but almost all of that was guestroom plus nursery for new baby (aka would need to have bought it anyway). There are definitely matainance costs, but with handiness you can deal with some yourself.
Our mortgage is 2k a month plus another thousand in taxes each month. Our car insurance went down. Our commuting costs went way down.
In our particular town daycare costs more than where we used to live.

Basically, my husband's paycheck covers mortgage, taxes, food. Mine covers childcare and clothing.


3,000 is a lot per month! What about when tuition hits?
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amother
Lilac


 

Post Thu, Oct 07 2021, 8:55 am
justforfun87 wrote:
3,000 is a lot per month! What about when tuition hits?


I'm a teacher in my kids school so we do automatically get discounts. My husband is in a field with a lot of growth potential in 2 years or so. Together we bring home about 6k a month after taxes right now. 3k to mortgage. 1.5 to babysitter. .5 to preschool. 1k for food and clothes. It's tight but livible. We also have stocks we're prepared to sell if it becomes necessary, as well as bonds that mature soon.
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:09 am
very clear breakdown here
thanks so much
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amother
Poppy


 

Post Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:27 am
I can tell you my story as well, but I don't know all the details because my husband takes care of most of these types of things (even though I make the real money!).
We were renting a tiny 2 bedroom apt in NY for $2000/month.
We recently moved to FL and bought a house for mid $500K.
Hidden cost: If the appraisal is lower than the price, you will have to cover the difference out of pocket - it does not go into your mortgage! For example, the prices are inflated now and our house only appraised for something like $460k. So that means that aside from the down payment, we had to also pay a lot upfront because the mortgage would only cover the appraisal amount.
Also, property taxes take a lot, and you need to pay for insurance as well. We did not realize how expensive the insurance would be - and here in FL they require you to have flood insurance, hurricane insurance, etc.
Coming from a small apartment, we also needed to spend on furnishing a lot of our new home. But we are okay with using apps like OfferUp to get used items in great condition. We also love Ikea... So the furnishing should be under 3K hopefully.
Moving costs money as well, but if you aren't moving too far hopefully it won't be as much.
I am in the tech field and make good money, but my husband is in kollel still. However, a nice benefit of moving from NY to FL is that the taxes are so much less here! In NY it was literally insane how much of my money was going to taxes - especially living in NYC. But that's besides the point...
Anyway, we find it very useful to budget each month. I was opposed at the beginning, but it's actually been freeing to know that I have x amount available this month to spend on y. It also allows you to make sure you aren't spending more than you are bringing in, and if you have extra you can save as well. We are bH already investing toward retirement (or we were before buying a house - have to redo the finances now!) which is only possible with careful budgeting and being aware of your money.
In terms of having enough for a down payment - start budgeting now, and every month put whatever you can toward a savings fund for the house. Cut corners wherever you can until you have at least a good chunk of the amount.. Don't go into lots of debt over it; it isn't worth it! We did borrow some money (we had enough saved for the down payment, but then the extra cost after the appraisal blindsided us), but we did it from our parents so we don't start accruing interest. In terms of paying every month, paying the mortgage is the same as our previous rent, so that doesn't change much in the budget. And as for paying back to our parents, whenever we have extra money in the monthly budget we put it toward that 'debt' - it's most important to pay off debt, and then you can start saving, so I think that's what we're doing and then will go back to putting away savings again hopefully soon.

Not sure if this is helpful because I don't live in NY anymore and I also don't know all the details about my own finances, but I hope something here will be somewhat useful!
Good luck!!


Last edited by amother on Sat, Oct 09 2021, 8:27 pm; edited 1 time in total
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amother
Cyclamen


 

Post Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:39 am
Do not forget things like landscaping/lawn maintenance, gutters, plumbing issues, flood, mold, broken heat/air conditioner, broken oven/fridge/washing machine ….. all these are taken care of by the landlord in a rental
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amother
Poppy


 

Post Thu, Oct 07 2021, 9:44 am
Really great point - yes, when you suddenly own you realize that you have to take care of everything yourself! It makes it much scarier, and makes you a lot more cautious as well. And those things do add up in terms of cost
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