In continuing our education blogs for ‘Financial Literacy Month’, this week we are bringing you two important financial lessons for homeowners. Firstly, some homeownership costs you should be budgeting for.
- Home inspections: home inspections are very useful when buying a resale home, it helps you to be aware of the state of your home and any maintenance projects or costs that will arise in the near future. Home inspections cost anywhere from $200 – $500. Benefit to buying a new home: home inspections are taken care of for you, and your home comes with a warranty program as well.
- Legal fees: during the sale of a home, you’ll need to enlist a real estate lawyer to handle all of the legal paperwork: registering title, etc. Legal fees start at $500 and go up from there.
- Home upgrades/maintenance: you’ll want to keep some money in savings to account for future home upgrades and maintenance projects. It’s also a good idea to invest some money in home maintenance tools to have on hand. According to Global News, many homeowners take on two major maintenance tasks per year.
- Provincial land title transfer: in Alberta, homebuyers have a provincial land title transfer free to consider; to put it into perspective, it’s $123 for a $365,000 home.
- Provincial mortgage registration fee: Alberta also has a levy on mortgage registration on title fees, amounting to about $110 on a $300,000 mortgage.
- Mortgage insurance: in situations where buyers put less than 20 per cent down for a mortgage, mortgage default insurance is required.
If your downpayment is between 5 per cent and 9.99 per cent of the value of your home, the insurance costs 4 per cent of the purchase price. If the down payment is between 10 per cent and 14.99 per cent, mortgage default insurance is 3.1 per cent. And for a down payment of between 15 per cent and 19.99 per cent, you’ll pay 2.8 per cent. [Global News]
- Moving costs: whether you decide to do-it-yourself or hire professionals, moving to a new home requires some costs. If you’re looking to hire professional movers, budget for about $1,500 to $2,000 for supplies and for the actual moving.
- Home insurance: don’t forget home insurance, the means necessary to protect your home and the things in it. Home insurance ranges from $1,000 to $2,000 per year.
For more financial literacy tips, track #FLM2017 on social media this month.
