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Hi everyone and welcome to another edition
of Homebuyer's School.
Today I'm joined by Eddie D'ambrosio
a real estate agent with Remax Elite
and today the question we're gonna answer is
how much does it cost to own and maintain a home?
So Eddie, let's say I just purchased a home,
whether new or resale,
what are some things I need to know in terms of
maintaining that home?
- Yeah so, well home maintenance is definitely
important to consider. - Mhm.
- I think the obvious is, you know,
when you're considering the cost of ownership of a home is
the mortgage.
I think that's the big one that comes up
and then, you know, you also wanna remember things like
property taxes are gonna play into
your overall cost of ownership there.
And then with regards to monthly maintenance,
of course you have to add in your utilities,
like heat and power, water.
Home insurance is another cost
that gets added into home ownership.
And then just maintaining the home.
So keeping in mind a small budget to put away for
maybe saving for future repairs.
Like, maybe replacing roofing or you know,
renovations to the property.
If you're purchasing a condo style property
then you may want to consider the condo fee
that's going in. - Okay.
What are some of your suggestions
in terms of things that we would need to upgrade
or renovate, you know, from the time I purchase a home?
Like, are we talking about the decks?
Are we talking about landscaping around it?
What are some key things that, you know,
for either future resale
or just good home maintenance upkeep,
what are some things you would
consider renovating or upgrading?
- Yeah so, I mean,
if you're purchasing a new property I guess.
We'll go with that one first.
If you're purchasing a new property then
it's really important to know from the beginning
if that property comes with things like
landscaping, a deck, does it come with appliances?
'Cause some builders will include those items
and some builders don't.
So they may be needed sooner rather than later.
If you're buying a property that's, you know,
let's say it's listed on the market,
a used home. - Yep.
- Well these homes sometimes,
they usually have all of those things
and then the big question that comes up
is really just condition.
What sort of condition are those items in?
And so yeah, it's always great to keep up with things
like refinishing a deck surface,
and maintaining the landscaping of your home.
Two of the biggest renovation projects
I think everyone's aware of is always
the kitchen and the bathroom.
It just comes up all the time.
People are wanting to improve those two things
in their home as well.
- Is, and obviously a kitchen and bathrooms
significantly improve the resale value of homes?
- Yeah absolutely.
I think, we just see that time and time again
with buyer clients that are going through properties
is that there's such a focus on those two areas of the home
because maybe there's a little bit more time spent there
and they really do impact the overall
look and feel of a property in the biggest way.
- So it's mostly just time, like so,
people spend time in the bathrooms.
People spend time in their kitchens
so obviously that's kinda why you wanna upgrade.
Any other reasons to really upgrade
or maintain those things?
Or is it just because,
just because they're spending time there,
they're being used a lot?
- Yeah, because they're being used a lot.
It's where you spend your time
and it's just such a point of pride.
It's such a focal point of your home
so you know, putting your best foot forward
in terms of whether you're getting ready to sell
or if it's just, you know, for you to enjoy the home
and enjoy living there.
I think those two, those two points just,
those two rooms become, you know,
such an important feature.
- So do you have any other advice
in terms of cost to own and maintain a home?
- Yeah, so I guess here's some good advice
that would be, you know,
keep up with the maintenance of your property.
If you own a home and you take really good care
of that property.
You change filters and keep it clean
and replace things just before they break,
what happens is your maintenance costs
go down substantially.
And then what you also do is
you improve your property value over the years
that you own that home as well.
- Awesome.
Well thank you very much Eddie.
Thank you very much for joining us
and we'll catch you next time.
- [Narrator] That's another edition of Homebuyer's School.
Tune in next time for more expert tips and tricks
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