Post-Closing Budget Areas to Consider for Homebuyers, Part 1

The process of buying a home represents a significant investment, one with several stages to consider. There’s the primary mortgage loan you’ll be applying for, for one, but also several closing costs, fees and potential other expenses that you have to keep straight during this process.

At Eagle Mountain Living, we’ll help you through every step in this process as you look to buy a home in Eagle Mountain. In this two-part blog series, we’ll go over one of the final expense areas to think about: Post-closing costs, including a few areas that will help you prep for long-term homeownership and get you settled as you finalize the sale and move into your new home.

Moving Costs

For starters, you want to ensure that any financial calculations you make during the homebuying process include moving costs that will come once your sale is completed. Moving costs can vary hugely depending on how many personal items you own, how far you’re moving, whether you require temporary storage and a few other factors.

The biggest area to think about in advance: Do you plan to complete the move yourself or hire professional movers? The latter will cost more, but will also significantly lower your time constraints and hassle during this process. If you choose to move yourself, you still need to factor in costs for a moving truck and other potential rentals for the actual process. We recommend getting estimates from multiple moving companies and shopping for the best deal, especially if you’re hiring a team of professionals.

New Household Items

During the moving process, there may be certain items that don’t fit in the new home or your moving truck. In other cases, buyers simply choose to replace certain items, like shower curtains or light bulbs. Many also replace things like brooms, mops and other cleaning supplies. This is a great time to take stock of your various items and determine any major costs for new ones, such as if you might need a new vacuum cleaner because of a new flooring type in the home you’re moving into.

Utility Costs

One long-term area you should get a handle on right away is your utilities, which include electric, gas, water, cable, internet, and trash/recycling services. Plan to contact service providers for each of these areas at least a week or two ahead of the move to inform them of it, plus to get estimates on any moving fees, hookup fees or other areas. Your actual utilities will vary each month and will depend on home size and usage, but getting a good idea of this range early on will help you budget accurately in other areas as well.

For more on important post-closing expense areas to consider when buying a home, or to learn about any of our homes for sale, speak to the staff at Eagle Mountain Living today.