Buy a house, face a first repair, and then start counting the people who will sagely nod and talk about all the extra costs homeowners face.
Owners also see building equity and personal wealth, but the cliché advice has a point. Like closing costs, the combination of property taxes, homeowners insurance, home maintenance costs, and others take a financial toll. Bankrate published a study looking at the costs of owning and maintaining a home. The average is more than $18,000 a year.
"In a market where median home prices have climbed above $400,000 nationally, the average annual cost of owning and maintaining a single-family home in the U.S. is 26 percent higher now compared to four years ago, according to Bankrate's new Hidden Costs of Homeownership Study," the company wrote.
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