In this short, conversational video, real‑estate agent Renee Hahn (pronounced "Han") of Downing Fry Realty explains the five most commonly overlooked expenses that homeowners—especially first‑time buyers—should budget for after closing on a property. She outlines (1) homeowner’s insurance, noting a rule‑of‑thumb cost of about $35 per $100,000 of home value and emphasizing that policies typically cover only the structure and possessions; (2) supplemental natural‑disaster coverage such as flood or earthquake policies that most standard policies exclude; (3) insurance deductibles, which can range from $1,000 upward and must be paid before the insurer contributes; (4) preventative maintenance for major systems and appliances (e.g., HVAC service contracts) because insurance does not cover wear‑and‑tear or broken equipment; and (5) homeowners’ association or condo fees and property taxes, which can significantly increase total ownership costs and may rise after renovations. Throughout, Hahn stresses the importance of planning for both expected and unexpected costs to avoid financial strain, and she ends with a call to action for viewers to contact her for real‑estate assistance.
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Hello, Renee Han with Downing Fry Realty. This is part of a series I call Ask Renee, where I tackle some of the more common real estate related questions and provide answers. So today I want to talk about some of the most overlooked costs of homeownership. I'm not talking about what it takes to close on the purchase of a home, but everything that comes after that. You know, this is probably most relevant for first-time homebuyers, but quite honestly there are many people who have owned a house in the past and don't necessarily have a wide preview or purview to all of the costs associated with homeownership. So I'm going to talk about the top 5 most overlooked. One, when you're doing your budget, is homeowner insurance. Especially if you have a loan or mortgage on your property, you are required to carry homeowner insurance. Because the mortgage companies want to make sure that if anything happens to your home, there is a way to recoup the money they've loaned you for the purchase. Uh, generally speaking, um, the costs vary from area to area, from home to home, but I'd say a good ballpark to think about is factoring in about $35 for every $100,000 in home value. Don't forget though that homeowner insurance typically only covers the structure and possessions. Not the cost to fix items caused by the damage. So you want to make sure you have some money in the bank for any unforeseen accidents that may happen. Second one, natural disasters, and we do have those occasionally in Florida. Many homeowner insurance policies cover basic natural disasters such as hail, although we don't get much of that, fire, but they do not usually cover things like floods, or if you happen to live on the West Coast, earthquakes. Often a separate policy must be purchased to cover those types of events. The third one is insurance deductibles. Depending on how you've set up your insurance, there is often a deductible to pay. Homeowners will likely have to pay that deductible for any damages before the insurance coverage even kicks in. Deductible is the amount of money a policyholder must pay before the insurance company will cover the remainder of the expenses. The deductible could be anywhere from $1,000 on up in terms of out-of-pocket expenses. Number 4, preventative maintenance. You don't just buy a house and neglect it for the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years you own it. So homeowners should also budget for the maintenance of appliances, other systems in the house such as air conditioning units, refrigerators, washing machines, One of the things that's quite popular in the Florida area because of the heat and the humidity and the sun is to have a maintenance contract on your air conditioner to get regular service. Again, homeowner insurance does not cover the cost of replacing broken appliances or faulty plumbing. Ongoing repairs and maintenance is important to preventing potential higher expense cost items later on. And finally, and in particular again in Florida, home association or condo fees. Don't also for— you don't want to forget property taxes as well. But when comparing homes to purchase, buyers will often just look at the list price and they fail to consider the overall cost of ownership of that property, including property taxes, homeowner association, condo association costs. Which could couple to be quite significantly over the course of ownership. Um, the other thing to keep in mind is looking at the past cost assessments and other things that may have been part of that condo or homeowner association, because those things are often used to cover unforeseen or unbudgeted costs associated with maintenance of the community. Also be aware that renovations to a home while increasing its value can also increase the property taxes. So again, short and sweet, just wanted to cover what I found to be the 5 most overlooked costs. When somebody's really excited to jump in and purchase their home, they're again looking at the cost of the, um, the list price of the home, what the seller is trying to sell it for. But you need to make sure you budget for all of those planned as well as unplanned costs that can happen up— happen in the course of owning a home. Thanks and have a great day. If you have any real estate needs, don't hesitate to call me, Renee Hahn, 239-287-2576. Have a great day.
