The purchase price gets all the attention because, well, yeah, obviously, it’s the big scary number sitting there, it makes you question whether or not investing in real estate is even a good idea. Is moving into this a good idea? Well, with a family, is this a good idea? Plus, there’s that whole “Can this home be bought?” And on top of that, it’s also like, “Can this home actually be lived in without every month feeling like a budgeting obstacle course?”
Because kids don’t exactly make a home cheaper to run. They don’t care that the energy bill exists. They’ll still leave the lights on. They’ll still need, well, the basics, and then some things beyond that, too. You don’t want to get house poor, no family should (as that alone is a giant mistake here too), but you also have to be aware of all the running costs here too. Your family deserves to be comfortable, but first-time home buyers need to consider a few extra things here.
The Mortgage isn’t the Only Thing to Consider
Use this right now if you haven’t already, because a mortgage calculator can make buying look cleaner than it really is. It gives a monthly payment, and for a second, everything feels very neat and sensible. Sure, it’s helpful, you should use it, but at the same time, you should take some of the info with a grain of salt here because there are other expenses too. You’ve got insurance, utilities, service charges, internet, maintenance, commuting costs, food shops, childcare, and all the tiny expenses that don’t seem that bad until they’re all standing in the same room. Make sense?
But you see here, that’s the part first-time buyers can’t ignore. A family might technically afford the mortgage, but if everything else leaves barely any breathing room, it’s not going to feel like security. Again, you don’t want to be house poor, that’s usually what happens.
Family Life Uses a Home Properly
Sure, how big the house is is pretty important, but there are other things to keep in mind. Like, if its an old house, that might mean it needs maintenance, can you afford that? It might mean that it has a low energy label, can you afford that? The reason this is relevant here, is because you see on social media people, families in particular that romaticize old houses, big houses, but if you don’t have the same money like these social media influencers do, well, that house will get expensive.
So for some families, they will instead look into new build apartments, at least with new ones, there’s heating already installed, theres insulation, usually the energy label is really high, sometimes appliances and amenities are already included, so theres costs already included that won’t come back to bite you later.
Repairs Can Mess Up the Budget
So, circling back to what was mentioned, either older homes. Hands down here, older homes can be lovely, sure, but they can also come with repair surprises that aren’t cute once a family’s actually living there. Like plumbing might need to be redone, windows might need to be redone with new ones, a new heater or boiler, questionable damp areas, and a new roof replacement.
That’s expensive, tens of thousands, if not hundreds, in terms of expense. Sometimes, it can mean a money pit. Plus, homeowner’s insurance tends to be null if you don’t have a contractor doing the work for you (and they need to be licensed).
