My husband and I have finally saved up for a downpayment on a home. We are wondering what the cost difference between our electric, gas and water bills will be compared to a home. We live in MN and currently rent a 1500 sq foot town home. We spend on average 60 on gas, 120 electric, 120 water & sewage quaterly. We are looking at homes that are around 2000 sq feet with finished basements, forced heat and central air. We are also looking in an area that most homes have private wells. Thanks!
It's going to depend heavily on the age/efficiency of your furnance and a/c; home insulation; if the house wrapped with Tyvec. Not to mention, the temps you like to live comfortably. When purchasing a home you can usually get a report from the utility companies on average usage and cost for the past year--if you are not purchasing new construction.
I didn't notice a huge hike in our prices... I'd say to be safe assuming it will be more. I always overestimate when we try to figure out prices of things. The realtor may not be able to help THAT much depending on the house you are getting. if you are buying a house that has an owner in it, they can share with the real estate company their utility bills, we didn't have that option. we bought a foreclosure.
We were originally in a (1900? sq foot) town home, and now we are in a 3200 sq foot single family home. SHOCKINGLY, the utilities aren't as much of a difference as I thought they would be.
It is hard to know the answer without knowing the condition of the house, how well insulated it is, whether the windows are energy efficient or not. I know that many of the home owners provided that information, so if you see a house you like, just ask your realtor to find out for you.
Happy hunting!
You can get the past years bills from the utility companies if there is a house you are interested in. That way--no surprises. And a private home inspection is worth every penny!
Make sure you hire someone to inspect the home before buying... don't want to move in and find out you have termites or something! The inspector should be able to tell you how efficient your house will be at keeping in the temperature.
I would ask to see the utility bills before purchasing the home. My friend just found out that her 50 yr old house did not have insulation in the walls. Ugh...she paid several thousand dollars to have it blown in. Not a fun expense.
Also our current home has a two story foyer, 9' ceilings and 3 cathedral ceilings throughout. Although our house isn't that much bigger than our old house, our gas and electric bills are ridiculous.
Ask your realtor. If memory serves we were asked to provide that information to the person who wound up buying our house.
Good luck! :)
We moved from renting a condo like you describe to a house where there is no gas and almost everything is electric. Well means water is free but the pump runs on electric. We have oil fired heat (but the fans that blow the air into the ducts are electric) called forced hot air. In the summer the same ducts bring the AC which is electric. Our stove, fridge, microwave, dishwasher, washer & dryer, hot water heater, water pump on the well, tv's, smoke alarms and lights are all electric too of course. I almost had a heart attack seeing the first electric bill 14 years ago since we used to pay about $20/month since everything was gas in our 1,000 sq. ft. condo! Our house is 2600 sq. feet about 40 miles NE of Boston (cold winters, hot summers). We now pay about $200 - $250 (summer AC) in electric monthly, no gas, no water, about 600 gallons of oil per year (at prepay this year of $2.74 per gallon but right now without a contract it is about $4 per gallon), so that could be as much as $2400 for heat which is $200 monthly. We also buy at least 1 cord of wood at about $250 for our wood burning stove, which we use more as an atmosphere maker than a house heater, although it makes the living room and kitchen nice and toasty, but it is too much work for me to schlep in wood for every day. Besides the mortgage there are the town taxes ($8,000/year in our town, we are on 2 acres), the home owner's insurance, the snow removal in winter ($35 per plow) and mowing in summer ($100 per mow), cable/phone/television/cell phones (our FiOS bundle is about $250/month for all four (for a house with 4 people with cell phones).
Also remember that there are closing costs and fees when buying a house, usually a point or 2 (percent) of the amount you are borrowing, and some kind of paperwork fee and title search fee, and just because fee, etc.etc.
Smart of you to get an idea of the costs of front, we did not, and were surprised but paid them anyway. Good luck.
