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Ready To Buy A Home? Have Your Real Estate Agent Factor In These Costs

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If you are starting to look at houses with your real estate agent, there are some fine details you want to look into when it comes to price. You want to be prepared to buy your dream home when it becomes available, and you want to know what it is really going to cost to live in the house. Ask your real estate agent to include the following costs on any real estate listings you are particularly interested in.

Homeowners' Association Fees

If you are living in a subdivision you will have homeowners' association fees. These fees could be low and you can easily pay them once every year, but if they are hundreds of dollars or more, you may decide that you want to have them added onto your home loan. They may also be more than you are willing to pay to live in that neighborhood.

Insurance Costs for the Property

The cost of homeowners insurance may be higher if you have a pond in your backyard, if you have a play-set on the property, or because of any other factor that may increase the risk of injury or a different kind of accident on your property. You want to get exact estimates for the costs of the insurance so you know exactly what you will be paying to insure your home. Make sure you talk to your current insurance company before making a final decision as well.

Current Taxes and Projections

Find out what the current taxes are for any house you are particularly interested in, and how they could be adjusted based on what you pay for the house. If you pay far more than the original owners did, and if the taxes haven't been assessed in a long time, you could end up paying far more in taxes than you thought that you would. It's important to know these things in advance so you aren't shocked if the taxes change.

There are a lot of different problems that can occur when you only look at the sale price of a property and neglect to examine its total cost. When you start to work with a real estate agent, ask them to factor in these costs when they start to pull homes that are within your budget, so you only look at houses that you know you can afford to buy. Preparing properly helps you prevent financial strains and hardships after purchasing your new home.


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