Tag Archives: water

I’m Thinking of Buying a House How Much Does It Cost Per Month On Top of the Mortgage?

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I read an interesting discussion recently about the costs of owning a home. A person was surprised that his friend had to pick up a second job to pay the bills after buying a house and wanted to know if the cost his friend quoted per month was normal. It led me to go back through our bills to find out how much we pay a month to run our house on top of the costs to pay off the mortgage.

How Much Do You Budget to Pay for Hydro, Natural Gas, Water, Property Taxes and Insurance per Month for a Detached House?

We live in a large city in Ontario but we don’t live in Toronto. Our house is detached, fairly old, but not particularly large.

The costs for things like electricity vary quite a bit from month to month, so I’ve taken our annual costs and divided them by 12, rather than report an actual month by month number. Most companies won’t annualize your costs, though, so be prepared to have some months where your bills are much higher than others.

In 2017, our home cost us

  • $124 Electricity / Hydro
  • $48 Water (including Storm Water and Waste Water charges)
  • $94 Natural Gas (including to burn for the water heater and for the pilot light in a seldom used fireplace insert)
  • $405 Property Taxes
  • $82 Home Insurance

How Much Should I Budget Per Month to Run Our House?

So our total costs for heat, hydro, water, property taxes and insurance add up to:
$ 753 per month.

Add in a typical cost for cable TV, internet, home phone and cell phones and you’re easily at almost $1000 per month. I didn’t include those because it would be easier to reduce or eliminate those costs than the ones I’ve included.

You can compare our costs to those reported by others for 2017 for homes around the GTA on this RedFlagDeals forum post.

What Else Do I Need to Budget For?

Other costs that might have been included in your rent are for:

  • Cable TV
  • Internet and Home Phone

Other common costs for home owners include:

  • Annual and perennial plants and shrubs
  • Landscaping consumables like wood chips, mulch, yard waste bags or bins, new soil, fertilizers, bird seed, insecticides for lawn grubs, ants or wasps
  • Gasoline or Transit, if you need to start commuting to work
  • Household Tools and Consumables, including snow shovels (which break and get stolen), yard work tools, building and repair tools, vacuum cleaners, ladders, lightbulbs, mops and brushes, buckets
  • Minor Decorating On-going Costs, including for re-painting, draperies or blinds, area rugs, furniture, art work
  • Big Ticket Maintenance, including a new roof, new windows or doors, a new furnace and air conditioner, new appliances
  • Big Ticket Renovations, including re-tiling and re-fitting bathrooms, the kitchen, new flooring (carpets, hard wood or tiles)

You need to estimate each of these costs, divide it by how many years you have to save up to pay it, and then include that amount of saving and spending in your monthly budget.

For example, you won’t necessarily have the $7000 for a new roof every 15 years if you haven’t saved the $40 a month for 15 years to pay for it.

What Other Home Expenses Do Some People Pay for?

  • Lawn and yard maintenance, including annual aerating, fertilizing
  • Snow removal
  • Gutter cleaning
  • Driveway sealing
  • Window washing

Can I Carry a Home For the Same as My Rent Payment?

Unless you are renting one seriously over-priced place, you probably can NOT expect to own a home for the same monthly cost as you pay for rent. I enjoy owning a home but I do not think it saved me any money!

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Do you know someone who bought a home without understanding the full costs of ownership? Please share your views with a comment.

Going South? Your Insurance Won’t Cover You If You Do This: Don’t Risk Losing Your House!

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Many homeowners like to take a trip to the sunny, and hopefully warmer, south in the winter. They lock up well, set timers on lights, and get a neighbour to pick up the flyers and keep the driveway shoveled. If they don’t also do this, though, they risk losing their home insurance coverage leaving their home vulnerable in the case of fire, theft or burst pipes.

You May Need to Turn Off Your Water Supply to Your Home Before Leaving In Winter

Here’s a direct quote from a TD Meloche Monnex insurance policy supplement:

“If you go away for more than seven consecutive days during [the] heating season, it is mandatory to turn off the main water supply or arrange for someone to ensure that the house is adequately heated, to maintain your insurance coverage.”

This person is supposed to ensure that the furnace has not gone off which could cause pipes to freeze and burst and then leak.

Knowing how some insurance companies try to avoid paying out claims, I think you’d better have some type of proof that you’ve turned off the water and/or arranged for someone to come into your home.

And remember that you must be careful if you plan to turn off the water supply for the entire home: Some hot water tanks have special procedures if you are going to turn off the water; Fire prevention and other sprinkler systems may also need to be properly serviced before shut off.

You May Need to Have Someone Enter Your Home to Check the Furnace and Power While You Are Away

Depending on your insurance policy, you may need to have someone actually come inside your home while you are away in winter. They are supposed to check that the furnace is running properly and that the home is well above the freezing point. If not, and the pipes freeze, your insurance company may not pay out to repair the damage.

They are also supposed to check that the electricity is working so that the fridge and freezer are keeping their contents safe.

Check Your Own Homeowner’s Insurance Policy

These are just some of the clauses to watch out for in your policy. There may be other rules regarding valuables left in a home while the owner is away for an extended period. For example, you may need to put jewellery in a safe deposit box at the bank before taking that month-long trip backpacking.

If in doubt, call your agency or your broker and ask what is required before travelling.

Then enjoy your trip!

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Have you ever come back from a relaxing trip to discover a major headache waiting for you? Did your homeowner insurance ever deny your claim? Please share your tips and experiences with a comment.