Buying a house is probably the biggest investment of our lives and it is important to know in advance all the expenses to consider when buying a house besides the down payment and closing costs.

• Inspection- The inspection of the house done by a licensed home inspector will give you a better understanding of the condition of the house and most likely will be a contingency on your contract, make sure to review the report and make questions to the inspector, your Realtor or a GC about any doubt you have. TIP: Include a 4 point inspection and wind mitigation report in your home inspection, it could provide you some discount on your home owners insurance.
• Home owners insurance.- You can get the service scheduled to run starting at closing day, it is important to protect your investment.
• Survey.- The survey is the process of locating and measuring the property’s boundary lines to get the exact amount of land conveying with the sale.
• Appraisal.- If you are buying a property through a mortgage loan, the lender will request an appraisal, basically the valuation of the property (the lender will not lend more than the value of the property estimated on the appraisal)
• Other expenses.
  • Inspection of a well or sept
  • Water assessment
  • Structural inspection (if lender requires)
  • HOA application (when buying on condominium or gated / restricted community)
  • Moving expenses

Make sure you have an estimate of the cost of all these items when engaging into the house buying process, a knowledgeable Realtor can provide some numbers and also recommend licensed professionals to assist you.

If you are looking to buy or sell, give me a call 813 446 2003

Clarisa Moody

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