From start to finish, buying a home is definitely a big deal. It’s one thing to assume that all you have to do is save up for a down payment, but you’re actually mistaken. You see, just like there’s a true cost of ownership for a car, there’s a true cost of ownership when it comes to real estate. Just because you breeze through the application process doesn’t mean that your checkbook isn’t going to get a workout in other sections. You will need to handle closing costs, and then after that you will need to handle repairs. There are always going to be repairs as a homeowner. It comes to a point where you can bet that every year, there’s going to be something that stops working like it’s supposed to, or something that needs to be replaced outright. These aren’t emergencies per se — they’re simply the cost of owning your own home.

Of course, some people still swear that even with all of the costs involved with keeping a home up to date, it’s still worth it. In many ways, it definitely is — it’s a universally recognized investment into your future, and for many it is also a sense of accomplishment. You know that when it’s time to buy a house, you’re moving in the right direction.

In order to understand the total cost of ownership when it comes to your home, you need to think about the mortgage payment, taxes, insurance, and interest. On top of those things, you’re going to need to think about HOA fees, yard cleanup, snow removal, trash pickup, utilities (which are higher than your apartment days), repairs, the initial home inspection, pest control, and even natural disaster preparedness. Just because you have an insurance policy on your home doesn’t mean that you will necessarily want to just sit idle when there’s a natural disaster. This is another reason why having an emergency fund is definitely a good idea. Just make sure that it’s going to be as liquid as possible — you don’t want to find that you’re unable to pay for things merely because you’re waiting on the insurance check after a disaster has affected your life.

It might be overwhelming to think that there are so many different costs that go into not only acquiring your home, but taking good care of it. However, as long as you know about the costs up front, you should definitely be good to go!