Your SPENDING PLAN

Costs Of Buying A Home

Ongoing Costs of Owning a Home: Up-Front Costs of Buying a Home:

‡ Earnest money (~1-2% of purchase price)

‡ Down payment (~3-3.5% of purchase price)

‡ Closing costs (~3-4% of purchase price)

‡ Escrows

‡ Reserves

‡ And...Moving

Even fixed rate mortgage payments can change.

‡ Mortgage payment (payments & lender can change)

‡ Homeowners Association (HOA) dues

‡ Utilities

‡ Maintenance and repairs (how much? who?)

Adjustments to the value of your home will affect the amount of your property taxes. Homeowners insurance can change (review periodically to ensure coverage is adequate based on increase in property value, purchases, upgrades, etc.). If you have Mortgage Insurance, it will decrease annually and eventually go away!

Check your local city and county resources for home repairs, home rehabilitation, and energy efficiency programs which could help you make necessary repairs or upgrades.

Creating a special account set aside for home repairs is essential as a new homeowner. We recommend you save 1-2% of your home’s purchase price annually. Create your list of who can help you do this work before you’re in a crisis and need to make a repair.

Helpful Tip:

Buying a home comes with a lot of decisions and opportunities. Along with picking out new paint and considering upgrading the bathroom, did you know that increasing the energy efficiency of your new home will begin saving you money, keep your family more comfortable in cold and hot weather, and will improve the indoor air quality beginning on day one?

EnergySmart is a service provided by Boulder County that provides unbiased energy efficiency and renewable advising and information, access to county-funded rebates and low-interest financing, lists of recommended Insulation, HVAC, and Solar contractors, and energy assessments that will analyze your home in detail to let you know which energy efficiency improvements will benefit you the most.

Uncertain whether you can afford to make these energy improvements even though you may be facing higher utilities bills or be less than comfortable inside your home? Contacting an EnergySmart advisor who is also a Boulder County employee, is free to any Boulder County resident. This advisor can help you to weigh your options which might include income-qualified programs that can reduce or eliminate the cost to insulate or install energy efficiency measures.

To learn more, go to www.EnergySmartYES.com