User: What are the different recurring costs associated with homeownership apart from mortgage?
Assistant: Apart from mortgage, first-time home owners will need to consider a variety of different costs that may catch them by surprise. Some of those are:
- Home Insurance Costs: Tends to increase if the house is in a flood-prone or fire-hazard zones
- PMI: Iff the homeowners have put down less than 20% down, then they will be subject to a Payment Mortgage Insurance(PMI), a monthly fees charged by the lending agency to cover their risk of default on the loan
- Property Taxes: The property taxes vary by state and by county. So first-time home buyers will have to be aware of the rate of taxes in the locality they are buying the house in and plan their monthly escrow payments accordingly to cover the tax bill at the end of the year
- Ongoing Maintenance and Upkeep: Depending on how old the house is and how it's maintained, plan to spend a few hundred dollars with regards to upkeep. Some could be fixed expenses like lawn mowing and upkeep services, water softenereinstallation and upkeep, water filtering systems, HVAC and so on. Although not common, it's good to plan for any eventualities