Buying a home? Don’t forget about these 44 additional costs

Real Estate’s Real Cost

You’ve found a house you like and a down payment you can afford, but buying real estate isn’t that simple. There are thousands of dollars worth of extra steps, hidden fees, and charges between you and homeownership, and they need to be considered well before you make an offer

Property Taxes

It’s right there in the real estate listing, but not factored into the price you see. Reading that tax estimate and dividing it by 12 will give some idea of what monthly payments will be, but getting an average property tax for the area will give some idea of just how high those taxes may get.

Private Mortgage Insurance

Couldn’t come up with a 20% down payment? Your lender now views you as a foreclosure risk and will slap 0.3% to 1.5% onto the cost of a mortgage to protect themselves. It won’t go away until the amount of mortgage owed drops to 80% of the home’s appraised value.

Home Insurance

Do you like having a home and all of the items in it? Unless you want flood, wind, or fire damage to take that all away, you’ll pay an average $1,445 a year in insurance.

Supplemental Insurance

Flood insurance alone can easily jack up home insurance premiums by 50%. Earthquake insurance is similarly costly. If you live in an area where either disaster is a reasonable risk, you’ll have to decide if the risk outweighs the cost.

Mortgage Application Fees

Yep, you’re going to be charged just for applying for a mortgage, and that fee can balloon to $500. Make sure you have your credit in order, as that’s a lot of money to waste on a declined application.

Underwriting Fee

You’re being charged not only to have your mortgage application reviewed (unless you’re applying for a Federal Housing Administration loan), but also for a flood certification fee, commitment fee,

Origination/Service Fee

Another fee a potential homebuyer is charged simply for dealing with a mortgage provider. Sometimes it’s a flat fee, but often an origination or service fee is 1% to 2% of the cost of the loan.

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