5 Hidden Costs of Homeownership

A home is a haven for you to enjoy and grow a family. Your home creates a sense of belonging and the opportunity to connect and participate in your local community. Homeownership also represents a growing investment that is vital to achieving financial freedom.

As with all valuable assets, homeownership comes with risks and hidden costs.  Anyone who has the privilege of owning a home can tell you stories of hits to their pocketbook they did not expect. Many unseen expenses in owning a home can run into thousands of dollars in unexpected costs. This report puts the hidden costs of homeownership into five categories:

1. HOA Fees, Property Taxes, and Homeowners Insurance  

A Homeowners Association (HOA) helps protect your home’s value by requiring all members to maintain their property and operate shared amenities such as pools, playgrounds, and parks. Those extras add to your enjoyment and enhance your home’s value. Unfortunately, they can sometimes be the source of outrageous assessments for unforeseen occurrences. 

Property taxes can rise surprisingly fast when least expected, and they are hard to roll backward. Your New Jersey homeowners insurance can hike in the aftermath of a natural disaster or for other reasons. Preparedness is why it advisable to have a personal relationship with your independent insurance agent who has your back and represents multiple carriers. Having options will help to keep your insurance affordable.

2. Routine Maintenance

New homeowners nearly always underestimate monthly expenditures for landscaping, lawn care, and pool service. That’s because they don’t account for the additional necessary items such as lawn fertilizer, tree trimming, pool pump maintenance, repair, and winterizing equipment. A pest infestation can happen anytime, causing immediate expenses and can turn into additional monthly fixed service fees. Your home may have looked pretty when you bought it, but after a long, hot summer, you might find the recent paint job was done with watered down paint leaving you to pay thousands to bring your home up to HOA standards long before you anticipated such expenditures. 

3. Random Events

Some random, natural disasters such as flooding, and earthquakes, are not covered by a standard New Jersey homeowners insurance policy.  A Hurricane deductible may also be several thousand dollars.  To protect against such risks, consult with your agent to add appropriate coverage and keep insurance premiums affordable. Likewise, although your homeowners policy covers many random events, you pay the deductible, which means the best recommendation is to get trusted, professional guidance when choosing your coverage amounts, including your deductible. 

4. Personal Situation

Life is not predictable. Your blessed event of a new baby on the way can come with the surprise news that you’re expecting twins or triplets. Things change in your employment, and you now need a home office to work from home. An aging parent who can no longer live alone and the best option is to bring them into your household. Any of these incidents can cause dramatic costs to own and update a home. 

5. Systems and Separate Structures

Even with a qualified inspection, you can face high and immediate unexpected expenses. Your roof, air conditioner and HVAC system, plumbing, including pipes, and septic systems, tankless water heaters, pool, deck, spa, and a gazebo are all items that have future repair and replacement costs associated with them. But breakdowns can happen well in advance of anticipated maintenance. For example, a roof in apparent great shape can start to leak after a rainstorm even though you expected it to last for ten or more years. Another is your windows. Dual-pane windows are excellent for retaining heat in the winter and cool temperatures in the summer. But they don’t last forever and eventually start to leak and fog, making them unsightly and less effective.

You do your best to prepare for unforeseen costs that come with homeownership. By being proactive, you’ll keep maintenance costs within budget and avoid unexpected repairs. You can’t afford mistakes when it comes to protecting your home. When you work with Dickstein Associates Agency, you get more than competitively priced New Jersey home insurance. Our staff of licensed insurance professionals use their decades of experience to help you make choices that avoid problems and protect against homeownership’s hidden costs.

About Dickstein Associates Agency

Dickstein Associates Agency has distinguished itself as a leading provider of personal and business insurance in the tri-state area for over 55 years. We pride ourselves on being advocates for our clients and providing them with quality and affordable coverages. As an independent insurance agency, we partner with various carriers, allowing for flexible and unbiased coverage for each client’s unique circumstances. For more information on how you can leverage all your insurance to work best for you, and how we can secure the best insurance in the marketplace based on your specific needs, contact us today at (800) 862-6662.