The home buying process went smoothly. We searched, put in an offer, got our financing, and closed. We have moved in and have been finding a million things to clean, fix, and improve despite it being a newly constructed home. Along with homeownership comes a lot of temptations to keep up with the Jones and lots of costs.
Temptations
There are so many things that you are marketed for when you are a homeowner. The first weeks have brought mailers about home security, water purification systems, mortgage death insurance, and more. Most things are easy to avoid, but there are some things that I find tempting.
- Home automation
Home automation is admittedly cool. You can control air conditioning, locks, find water leaks, and more from your phone. However, I probably don’t need a connected smoke detector or expensive lights that automatically turn on when I enter a room. On this front I’m going to get a lock with a keypad and probably skip nearly everything else.
- Security
Security is great, but I don’t like monthly fees and they can be quite high ($30-$50 a month). I’m trying to figure out the right balance because I don’t want to sink a ton of money into protecting every window and door with sensors and cameras. Maybe I’ll have some sensors that alert me, but without the extra monthly fee for 24/7 monitoring.
- Furniture and trimmings
When we were renting we wanted decent stuff that could survive several moves and fit into most places, but now that we are settled we want stuff that matches our layout. Fortunately we don’t have to replace our stuff to do so since we sold most of it two years ago. We even bought a TV. However, we do have to get some window coverings which are definitely included in any rental.
Tracking
Now that we have a house, we can publicly share the costs associated with it so if you are thinking of buying you can have a better idea, but better yet, we can look back and see whether it was better to rent or buy. In order to determine that we will list out our home expenses that wouldn’t have if we are a renter. What that means we won’t put utilities and other common things you would encounter as a renter. However, window coverings, appliances, and much more will be listed.
In addition to the ongoing expenses, there is a down payment and additional principle payments. That is a huge opportunity cost that could be invested. For comparison, we’ll assume we could have rented for $1600 a month and the down and principle payments would have invested it 100% in low-cost index funds, even though I haven’t been.
So starting now, you can take a look at the housing expenses on this new page.
Conclusion
Tracking is the first step toward understanding and managing your expenses. Doing so for this house will be a good to be accountable and see just how much a few dollars here and there really is. Everything is coming together nicely, but we are still missing window coverings and a dining table. If you have any home related questions I’d be happy to discuss them.