https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 27 May 2026 02:12:52 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2298849 Wed, 23 Sep 2015 01:06:49 +0000 ms.jellen 2298849@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>#8 San diego! Thank god we're in a draught to out yards can look tan for a little while without getting in trouble for it hahah. We plan to do a more draught friendly landscaping though. Also chose a neighborhood with no HOA and no Mello Roos and on the cusppppp of a bordering city with lower property taxes so we get a break on that while still being in a prime location with great school system. Annnnd it's conveniently located to lots of back roads to commute to and from work. I work in real estate though so I have been looking in this exact area for the "prefect" one. Seriously lucked out. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2220075 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 17:16:01 +0000 plantains 2220075@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gingerbebe: 2500!!!!! Wow, that is kind of amazing! I agree though, best to buy less than you can afford and set some money aside every month for maintenance costs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2220074 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 17:13:22 +0000 plantains 2220074@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Modern Daisy: yup, it is borderline criminal! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2220059 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 16:42:27 +0000 gingerbebe 2220059@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@plantains: I agree landscaping isn't something that was hidden and we had an idea of how much that would cost. It was more the specific costs related to the trees and particular sprinkler systems we had that caught us off guard. But buying a home under our budget helps with extra costs like that. </p> <p>What was nice in our closing is that there was such a bidding war among the lenders we had fighting each other, we got a $1500 credit from the lender towards closing and the other bank actually offered to beat it by $200, but by that point we were in so deep with the first lender we just rolled with it. I have no idea how we would manage a $50K transfer tax bill - we paid like $2500 total for our closing costs! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2220016 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 15:37:35 +0000 Modern Daisy 2220016@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@plantains: it also cost us around $50k to close! That does not include the $67k broker fee. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2220009 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 15:29:40 +0000 Modern Daisy 2220009@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Umm.. So I've owned inNYC and Philadelphia and am totally shocked philly made the list and NYC didnt. This is kind of a stupid article because these costs are definitely not hidden and you would only overlook them if you're a first time home buyer.<br /> Actually the main reason we moved to the philly suburbs instead of the nyc burbs was because of taxes. We could have afforded a decenthouse.. But not the $30k per year in taxes. And we never even bothered trying to hire contractors in nyc - we did everything ourselves- because the ones that were willing to come into manhattan charged several k just to cross a bridge.<br /> But yeah, like others we bought a house below our budget that needed no work. This way on months when we pay the plumber and electrician more than our mortgage it isn't such a big deal. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219919 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 14:12:57 +0000 Greentea 2219919@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If a pipe bursts in front of your house, even if it is in the street, the homeowner is responsible here.</p> <p>(I'm not sure if that is common in other places.)</p> <p>My city isn't mentioned but there are insane costs with heating and cooling, and such extremes do unexpected structural damage as well. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219827 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 13:16:34 +0000 Foodnerd81 2219827@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Like a few others, we are right in the #1 city. But those things weren't hidden. Things that were more surprising were having to replace our water heater almost right away (we didn't realize they usually only last about ten years and our building is ten years old). And living in a medium sized condo building there are assessments for repairs to the property- luckily the previous owner had just paid a big one. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219781 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:45:10 +0000 plantains 2219781@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gingerbebe: depends on where you live. For example, your title company can tell you that seller always pays transfer taxes but after making the commitment to buy you may find that the developer who is building has decided that he will not pay because market is so hot and you have to. On the other hand, I consider landscaping to belong on the same category as utilities. All you have to do is call around to ask or do some googling. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219775 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:41:50 +0000 plantains 2219775@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@808love: @808love: it is a tax you pay to transfer home ownership from someone else to yourself. In NYC, you pay state transfer tax and then city transfer tax and then mortgage tax and then depending on the cost of the property there is mansion tax. These are completely separate from your closing costs. Ridiculous. The rules about who pays what between buyer and seller also seem to be forever shifting. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219774 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:40:38 +0000 gingerbebe 2219774@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just bought a house and while DH and I were sorta bummed we had to wait so long to buy (we are 34), we're really glad in the end we had time to become older and wiser and do our homework. </p> <p>We live in Northern CA, although not in the Bay Area. We rented a slightly run down duplex in a notoriously expensive city for 3 years and I'm glad we did because we were able to really pay attention to what people had to pay to own a home there. In the end, we moved to the next town over because the town we were living in was BANANAS. They passed all sorts of levies and measures, one of which tripled the water rate for homeowners. There's also tons of regulations like, if you want to take down a tree on your property, there's this whole process of informing the public and taking comments and all that. The property rates are SUPER high in the town - like easily double, more like triple the costs in the town we bought in - because its a university town and there's a strong rental market. The town is really anti-development, so most of the houses, while expensive, are old. And because most of them have been rentals, they are run down. The newer homes have enormous bond levies on them (because a lot of it used to be former farm land) so 30 year bonds get stuck to your property to pay for sewer lines and roads and what not. When we looked at one of the few new home developments on the outskirts of town, we were appalled. The house was $850K before any options, plus the taxes and bond payments would add another $1000 on top of the mortgage! And they were all sold out except ONE unit!</p> <p>Everyone says its worth it to live in this town because the schools are so good, BUT when we did the math, we could buy a house in the next town over (which has schools that are admittedly not as competitive) and pay for private school and have lots of money left over. Plus, we could apply to get into the good schools in the other town because there's not enough kids to fill the schools (shocker, with the property values as high as they are). AND if our kid has special needs, all of the county's intervention programs are in the school district we live in.</p> <p>So we moved a whopping 3 miles up the road, bought a 17 year old house on which the (quite modest) bond will expire in 3 years, that is in better shape and costs approximately 60% less than a comparable house would have been in our old town. The water rates are lower, the property taxes are lower, and the cost of services here are a LOT lower than the same exact services in the next town (lawn, tree services, cleaners, etc). I guess they charge the residents in the other towns more because they figure they can afford it?</p> <p>I don't think taxes and insurance are usually "hidden" - and you can usually ask your title company to give you a rundown of how closing costs break down. The things that were new to us were things like hiring an arborist for our trees and hiring someone to fix our sprinkler system. Having the HVAC guy come and refill the freon in our unit. We've found the NextDoor app to be really helpful in getting to know our neighbors and get good leads on things like landscapers, handymen, contractors, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219761 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:28:02 +0000 MOMTOLITTLEB 2219761@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just bought a house in the suburbs of one of the areas. But we knew we were buying an an expensive area, and we knew what the property taxes were. I think this article could have focused on maintenance costs to be more interesting. We bought a larger home than we planned so that is something I worry about a little even though the price was right. You should see the estimates we just got from fence companies. No wonder the previous owners had 3 kids, 3 dogs and no fence. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219751 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:21:01 +0000 hellobeeboston 2219751@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PurplePeony: ugh what a pain!! We have an 80foot Spruce in our front yard that is clearly dying (and two arborists confirmed) that we have to take down, but we got a quote for $695 which I actually thought (sadly) was a pretty good deal! It's easy access, that helps. Boo. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219746 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:15:02 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2219746@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PurplePeony: we decided to faux paint our garage door and afterward the door wouldn't open anymore. The contractor tried to fix it, but at the end of the day we ended up having to replace the opener. That fix costs us a little over half of what it cost for the faux paint job. As a renter I would not have been able to just get the door painted, but geez replacing the garage mechanism was not in the plans. lol </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219733 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:09:05 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 2219733@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>#6 - Los Angeles... no surprise there.</p> <p>I'm shocked NY isn't anywhere on this list! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219732 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:08:52 +0000 PurplePeony 2219732@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hellobeeboston: tree maintenance, ugh. We have a 60+ foot pine tree in our front yard that not only needs to be pruned every couple years so it doesn't drop a branch on a passer-by, but it also spits pinecones and pine needles and these weird little red puffy things so we're cleaning up after it year-round. Obviously we knew the tree was there but we never thought (and our realtor never warned us) about what a PITA it would be. It doesn't cost us in money to clean up after it (but DH is always mentioning hiring someone to clean the gutters so he doesn't have to go up and do it) but it takes soooo much time. Pruning costs a ton, though.</p> <p>Anyway, I agree with everyone who says taxes and utilities, and even closing costs IMO, are not hidden costs. If you don't account for those when you buy a house, that's really your own fault. I will say that additional tax levies can be pretty unwelcome (our city passes them ALL THE TIME and seeing the effect on our tax bill pretty much sucks) but even with that, you have to assume taxes will go up over time. Our hidden costs have been things like when a spring on our garage door broke and when we tried to get it fixed, found out parts for the door are no longer manufactured. We managed to find a salvaged spring so we didn't have to replace the whole door YET, but now there are literally no replacement parts left on the west coast so next time anything goes wrong, the whole thing will have to be replaced. And it's a non-standard size so it has to be custom-made. $$$. Or when our basement got infested by ants because who knew that they apparently love the sandy soil in our area. That was fun. So now we've added an annual visit from the exterminator to our budget. Even little things that aren't strictly necessary, like some nice colorful flowers to brighten up the front yard, add up fast. Sigh. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219730 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:07:34 +0000 psw27 2219730@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: whatttttt! That is bananas.... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219723 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:01:42 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2219723@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@psw27: @mrsrugbee: there is an additional tax we pay that was truly unexpected. We pay a separate community tax to live in our subdivision and that was not modeled for us when we were deciding to purchase. That sucks :sad: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219705 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 11:46:36 +0000 HLK208 2219705@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>#5 Seattle/Tacoma :bummed: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219703 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 11:40:32 +0000 Cole 2219703@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree that these things are not hidden costs. I would say things like landscaping costs would qualify as hidden though, we do most of the work ourselves but mulch and flowers and water adds up quickly! Snow removal is a pain too, it is either expensive in dollars or expensive in time and effort. </p> <p>Some places you have to pay extra for trash, bulk trash or recycling, many places don't have composting or wood chipping services included etc. Our taxes are high but when all of these things and more are rolled in I feel like we have fewer hidden costs than most people. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219697 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 11:36:52 +0000 psw27 2219697@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I live in #1 - Boston! But I hardly consider taxes, insurance and utilities to be hidden costs... plus in the actual city of Boston, you get a residential exemption if you live in the property so it brings the tax rate down quite a bit. It is what it is! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219671 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 11:19:00 +0000 mrs. wagon 2219671@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yup! #1! Although I live south west of the highest areas listed in the article (Boston/Cambridge/Newton... a weird grouping since they're all separate cities...) There are absolutely affordable options outside the city. My town is not... but we're paying high property taxes for the school system and community, and proximity to the city for a decent commute. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219658 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 11:12:57 +0000 808love 2219658@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@plantains: what is a transfer tax? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219606 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:23:33 +0000 plantains 2219606@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bluestriped bee: yup, this list is meaningless without NY hahaha. Westchester has the highest property taxes in the country! But again, these are things people know going in. What the article doesn't bother to mention are things like the impact of transfer taxes for city and state, mansion tax etc can have on your closing costs. Closing costs in NYC on my 2br/2bth came to $50,000!!!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219603 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:22:11 +0000 birdofafeather 2219603@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: Yeah, I agree. Property taxes and insurance aren't hidden! They come with owning a home no matter where you are. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219588 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:12:05 +0000 hellobeeboston 2219588@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@catlady: yeah, I wouldn't consider these hidden as well as property taxes were something we looked at the same time as looking at new homes</p> <p>@yoursilverlining: Yes. I would say the biggest "hidden cost" for us had been the exterior and land for us. Who knew tree maintenance could cost so much and even be an issue! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219586 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:11:00 +0000 hellobeeboston 2219586@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yup, in the #1 city - Boston. Well, just north. Our property taxes are crazy! (Not as bad as NH though! But they have no income tax) But it's worth it for the school system. We will probably move once the kids are out of school to save $ </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219581 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:07:25 +0000 BSB 2219581@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've lived in the suburbs of two of the cities. In addition to the hidden costs, both cities have high average home value. </p> <p>I actually thought NYC would be #1 on this list and was surprised to see not make it on this list. I'm thinking maybe more people rent than own in NYC. Maybe that's why. </p> <p>I am a bit disappointed that Boston is #1 since I'll probably start job hunting in Boston when we are ready to move back east. Though, I doubt I'll be able to afford a home in Boston, I'll probably live in the suburbs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219580 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:05:29 +0000 Truth Bombs 2219580@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: That was my thought too! But I only read one of the city descriptions so I thought maybe the others talked about other costs. When I think of "hidden" costs I think about stuff like a water heater that breaks a week after you buy a place, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hidden-cost-of-homeownership#post-2219579 Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:04:53 +0000 WinterBee 2219579@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I'm Canadian, so not on the list but the way we keep costs down is because of my DH! He is VERY handy and does everything, we only pay for materials, and even then he can make some of it (used our trees to make our log deck). If it weren't for him we would have had to pay a lot in labour for the things he's done, especially because we bought a fixer-upper. :silly: </p>