Looking Beyond A Home's Sales Price

Often, I find home buyers asking how much the seller of a home their interested in spends of their utility bills annually. To many, this number is a minor detail and a general cost of owning a home that they don't consider. However, utility and maintenance costs spent on a home could make a big difference in some buyer's budgets.

According to a study conducted by The National Association of Home Builders, homes built prior to 1960 have average maintenance costs of $564 per year. Homes built after 2008 have average maintenance costs of $241. For homes built prior to 1960, operating costs average nearly 5 percent of the home’s value while the average was less than 3 percent for homes built after 2008, the NAHB study found.

With those numbers in mind, it may be possible for some home buyers to buy a more expensive, newer home and still have the same operating costs as owning an older home. Your mortgage payment on a new home may be higher than that of an older home, but your annual maintenance costs may be higher for the older home. It certainly is a balancing act and at the end of the day, it's all about personal preference when it comes to buying a newer or older home.

If you're considering buying or selling a home, give me a call. You'll love what I can do as your Realtor®.

Kristy O'Connor
Realtor®
Weichert, Realtors - Media
606 E. Baltimore Pike, Media, PA
267.243.6434
KristyLOConnor@gmail.com