Those with paid off houses, how much basic maintenance cost ?

[Bamaman]

Property taxes on our main house--$0 Wife is disabled, and AL doesn't charge property taxes to the disabled
Homeowners Insurance--$1,100
$350K Lake house taxes--$1100
Homeowners Insurance on Lake house--$500
Property taxes on my daughter's house (I own)--$1400
Homeowners Insurance--$1100

Our biggest expense is insurance--homeowners' insurance on the 3 houses and the auto insurance on 5 cars.

 

[hausfrau]

Live in MN. ~1500 sq ft SFH valued at 240K, market value around 310K

Taxes: 4100/yr
Ins: 1680/yr
HOA: 0

Maintenance varies, but we spend very little even though our house is old. We still have 100 yr. old windows and radiators that are working great. We don't have central air and our appliances have held up. We prefer the vintage maple floors and woodwork, so there's not much in the way of upgrades. House is insulated and our heating bills aren't that high, even though it's cold.

We do need to replace our roof in the next few years though. Most other things we DIY.

 

[W2R]

Here are the figures for my old house, that I sold in August after living there for 13 years. It is a 1600 sq foot ranch style home on a slab, built in 1972.

$123/month average maintenance
$0/month HOA (no HOA)
$80/month property taxes (most recent, highest cost)
$242/month homeowners, wind and hail (=hurricane), and flood insurance, again most recent, highest costs.

So, I think the total you are looking for is probably this:

$123+$80+242 = $445/month, which is $5,340/year. If including opportunity costs, and not includinging the profit when I sold it, then $875/month. Rent for a similar home is $1600/month according to Zillow, and that is about what I observed as well. But rents here are comparatively high. I guess the demand for rentals went up after Katrina.

I don't have the figures yet for my Dream House although I expect them to be a little higher.

 

[NW-Bound]

Another way to look at the housing cost, not counting the mortgage cost if you still carry one, is as a percentage of your total expenses.

I just looked at mine that way, and found that for the last 5 years, my housing costs run 32% of the grand total expenses. Again, that's everything including taxes, insurance, utilities, repairs, etc...

It is high because of the 2 homes, plus the recent repairs and upgrades that I hope will not be recurrent for a while, except that the 1200 sq.ft. deck of the high-country home calls out for money next year. And if I were picky, I would do something about the pool in the urban home.

Homes are money pits, or can be. I would save a lot of money living in a motorhome, and throw a class A away every 10 or 15 years. Nah, make it a class C and I would save even more money.

 

[hurricane harry]

Paid off $50,000 864 sq.ft. house in small town ND:

taxes - $50 per month
insurance - $60 per month
utilities - $300 per month
routine maintenance - $70 per month

There is a picture of my home in my "misc" photo album.

Nice.
Paid for small home in NE Georgia on one acre of woods.
$450 per year property taxes
$500 per year home insurance

 

[FIREd]

Paid for 2,500 sqft house in Huntsville, AL (annual amounts):
Property taxes: $1,350
Insurance: $1,280 (high liability limits)
HOA: $0
Maintenance to keep the house in top shape: ~$3,500

For giggles, if I were to purchase the 1,100 sqft condo I currently rent in San Francisco, CA:
Property taxes: $15,000+
Insurance:
HOA: $9,000 + special assessments

Utilities (electric, trash, water - all electric heating in both places) are about the same, ~ $200 a month.

 

[W2R]

Paid for 2,500 sqft house in Huntsville, AL (annual amounts):
Property taxes: $1,350
Insurance: $1,280 (high liability limits)
HOA: $0
Maintenance to keep the house in top shape: ~$3,500

For giggles, if I were to purchase the 1,100 sqft condo I currently rent in San Francisco, CA:
Property taxes: $15,000+
Insurance:
HOA: $9,000

Utilities (electric, trash, water - all electric heating in both places) are about the same, ~ $200 a month.

Your condo sounds gorgeous and I must admit, the idea of living in a place where you can walk everywhere but don't have to deal with yard work, is pretty appealing. Still, the costs are mind boggling and I know I'd be happier elsewhere too.

 

[karen1972]

the other thing is if you live in Illinois, especially cook county, I know they had a tiered system. You get one exemption for how long you have lived in the house, then you get a based homeowner exemption, then you get another exemption if you are over 65.. If you move even within the county, the clock starts over so neighbors with the exact same house paid drastically different rates. There was huge incentive there for people to retire in the same house they lived in and stay there.

 

[rodi]

I forgot to put in our home maintenance. We've averaged just under $8k/year for the past 5 years.

But in the past 5 years we've replaced 18 windows, remodeled our kitchen, redid our tile floors in the downstairs, added insulation, upgraded wiring and panel box, added an on demand water heater, resurfaced our driveway with pavers, and are 80% complete on a master bathroom remodel. Once we finish the windows, remodel the hall bath, replace the roof, install solar, and recarpet, our big ticket home maintenance items will be done. We mow our own lawn and clean our own house - so no expenses there.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Haven't posted for quite a while, but thought I'd get my info posted:

Location: Sun City Center, FL
House: Attached villa, 2029 sq ft air conditioned space. Built 2013.
Market value: $260,000 owned free and clear
Property taxes: $2193, homesteaded, early pay savings.
Insurance: $771 annually ($433 hurricane and $338 non hurricane coverage)
Home Owners fee: $398/mo ($4776 annually). Covers all building maintenance, lawn mowing and trimming, shrub and tree maintenance and replacement, reserves for roof repairs and replacement, water and sewer, maintenance of common grounds, management fee, security, etc.

We moved from our single family home two years ago when the maintenance became a headache. Health issues. I can't do all the things required of owning a single family home. I was paying at least the cost of the HOA fee in my monthly maintenance and about $135/mo for water and sewer. We stayed in the same community but now we are in the gated section. The change was a no-brainer for us. Our Master Association owns and operates an appliance warranty company that for about $385/year covers all appliance repairs and the heating/cooling system including full replacement cost. No worries!!

 

[Walt34]

West Virginia eastern panhandle, and bear in mind that prices range from high 5 figures to many millions, depending on location and size and features of the house. I'm assuming SFH, not condos (are there even any in WV?) or townhomes.

Anyway house is 1,700 SF, two car attached garage. Market value ~$230k.

Property taxes $1,329 last year
Insurance $800

We've had a couple of expensive maintenance items, new A/C at $4k and replace the water line from the street $3,400. Plus other regular stuff, lawn mowing (I do that) and such I figure it costs just under ~$800/month to own the place in the 13 years we've had it. It is paid for.

 

[Amethyst]

Welcome back, JOHNNIE36 Your insurance is very reasonable, for FL!

 

[SkisALot]

I agree with some of the points made - the taxes aren't just location based - here in CA because of our Prop 13, it's also length of time you live in a home. Our next door neighbors, who moved in less than 2 years ago, but have the same square footage, same size lot, pay 3 times what we do. And it would be 9 times what we do if we didn't have our granny flat - which had a base tax of the market value of the granny flat from the date of occupancy. Another factor here in SoCal is Mello-Roos.... an extra tax for newer neighborhoods. The developers used to have to pay into the city to cover infrastructure: fire houses, roads, libraries, parks, etc. But in the late 70's the developers figured out they could put a 30 year bond on homes and make the home owners pay for these costs... So it's a 30 year tax from the time the last home in a development is built. (So early buyers in a large development might pay longer.
0

Another thing to be aware of at least in California (and maybe other places): Some cities and counties are adding "assessments" to tax bills to cover things like landscaping, schools, police protection; otherwise, things that used to be covered by the basic property taxes. These "fees" go up. Real estate people won't tell you about assessments unless you ask and sometimes they just don't know about them. In some cases a county will designate a certain area as a "special services district" or "maintenance area" and charge a lot more than what is commonly thought of as 1% of the purchase price. The best thing to do is to go to the county tax assessors office with an address and see what is charged on that particular property.
An additional fee in California is a state fire protection fee of currently around $152.00 a year per any habitable building on a piece of property. This is NOT insurance on a home but a fee those living outside of cities have to pay to the state to fight wildfires (most often caused by tourists who don't have to pay) This fee also goes up every year.
And then there's the issue of HO insurance which is an issue too long for this post. Suffice it to say that HO insurance here is not a given, even in some city areas.
I could tell you what DH and I pay for all the above but a new person buying in our neighborhood would pay a lot more.

 

[Gumby]

Seeing what others pay in property taxes has me a bit depressed .
I live in expensive Bergen County, NJ. I have a nice house, but it's modest. I honestly don't know if I'm on 1/4 acre or 1/5 acre. Anyway, here goes:
Property Taxes $11,000
Insurance: $1200
Lawn mowing/treatment: $2000

I paid off my mortgage years ago and for me it was the right decision.

Let me make you feel better:

2505 sqft home on 1/3 acre in coastal Connecticut (2015).

Real Property Tax: $12,190
Homeowners Ins: $ 3,952
Water: $ 500
Electric: $ 1,300
Natural Gas: $ 1,700
Repair/Maint. $ 2,500 - $5,000

 

[meierlde]

Not sure this info is useful unless you are willing to move to my neighborhood.

Insurance, this depends on location, and even location within a state. Insurance for wind and water is different on the coast vs inland, and can very by over $1,000 a year.

HOA, in some HOA's there is little or no benefit, in ours it covers 24/7 ambulance, garbage disposal, 24/7 security, common area maintenance and other smaller benefits. A great deal for only $400 a year. As you may guess there is more to this also. (our HOA reserve account generates well over $300,000 a year in income)

Proprety Tax. Would appear to be straight forward, but here again not so. In Tx, there is not income tax. The difference is made up largely by property tax. Also many Texas subdivisions are developed using bonds. These are paid off through property tax. If the subdivision builds out, the tax is fairly low. If it does not, then the tax is higher. Again, the difference can be thousands of dollars in two neighborhoods that are side by side.

My point is there are far too many variables that make up the foundation of 'additional home expenses' to compare using anecdotal evidence.

In an addition for Tx it depends if you are in a city or not as being in a city can increase the property tax 20 to 25 % all be it you likley won't have to pay for trash, and the water bill may be less. (you may have a well and septic tank if not in a city). I agree that homeowner insurance depends on location nearer the coast there is more risk of hurricane damage, so rates increase and/or you might have to buy wind insurance from the state pool. for a lot of bucks. Tx is also among the highest for homeowners insurance due to both wind and hail damage resulting in large numbers of roof replacements.

 

[ejman]

1700 sqft home on 7 beautiful, gorgeous, magnificent wooded acres in SW Oregon. Cost per Quicken last year.

Insurance $970
Taxes $1,155 3% increase annual cap
Repair $3,773 (put in a new deck last year)
Heating $44 - but a lot of sweat I cut and split my own firewood
Electricity $1,986

A picture from my front porch

 

[ABQ2015]

Albuquerque

Market Value of Home est. $350K
Taxes $3821
Insurance $900
Utilities (gas, electric, water/sewer) $3600
No HOA

If you look at the articles on property tax by state, NM taxes are about 1/2% the value of the home. But you can see that mine are a little more than 1%. I never trust those articles. Property taxes are very location specific. Zillow often lists property taxes and is accurate in my experience although their Zestimates are less accurate.

My brother lives in Fort Bend County west of Houston and his property taxes are over $7K on a $250K home. There is an HOA that costs about $600-800 a year. My other brother lives in Abilene and pays less than $2K for a house worth less than $200K. It is a beautiful old turn of the century home but not in a desirable place to live and mediocre schools. I'm not sure how much they pay for insurance.

 

[hnzw_rui]

Wait a second...why pay off the mortgage? My CPA told us we NEED to have this large of a mortgage or we will jump up in tax rates, we're in Illinois.

So...doesn't being mortgage free have to do with how to get the lowest tax classification when in retirement?

To be honest, I've never really understood the reasoning for wanting to pay mortgage interest of $20K just to save $7K in taxes. For a W-2 earner, if you just pay the taxes, then you'd still have $13K left to spend or invest. For someone already retired, that's $20K less you need to spend. Only reason not to pay off is if you have the funds invested and earning more than your mortgage interest.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

1700 sqft home on 7 beautiful, gorgeous, magnificent wooded acres in SW Oregon. Cost per Quicken last year.

Insurance $970
Taxes $1,155 3% increase annual cap
Repair $3,773 (put in a new deck last year)
Heating $44 - but a lot of sweat I cut and split my own firewood
Electricity $1,986

A picture from my front porch

You live in a beautiful spot.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Amethyst, thanks for the welcome back note. Good to see some of the other folks are still hanging around. Maybe this will get me back in the groove.

 

[aaronc879]

Condo Fee:$165/mo
Prop. Tax:$70/mo
Condo Ins.:$15/mo
Utilities:$90/mo

Total:$340/mo

 

[bingybear]

Wait a second...why pay off the mortgage? My CPA told us we NEED to have this large of a mortgage or we will jump up in tax rates, we're in Illinois.

So...doesn't being mortgage free have to do with how to get the lowest tax classification when in retirement?

Thanks

There are other reasons to hold a mortgage in retirement than to lower one's taxes.... but ...I'll comment
One must remember that much of these comments relevance will depend on once situation.
Mortgage interest reduces income based on the destructibility on an itemized return. That means you first have to come up with deductions that exceed your standard deduction. Note that those deductions to match the standard deduction provide no direct savings, they just allow you to take more deductions... like mortgage interest. So the question is...how much are you paying to get this "deduction"?
Now if you don't have a mortgage, then you don't need to come up with the cash to pay it. If all your taxable assets are in qualified dividend paying stocks (and you don't need to pull from IRAs), then up to the top of the 15% bracket, you can have 0 federal tax.
There are reasons to have a mortgage at low interest rates and getting a tax break helps. The effect of tax breaks, price appreciation of the house and earnings on the money you would not have if you paid the mortgage off can make the mortgage a good idea.
Many people can get low taxes without a mortgage.

 

[Lucantes]

Cocoa Beach FL, 3400 ft2 waterfront built in 2007.
No Mortgage, bought with cash in 2013 and have been renting out until 2017 retirement.
Annual Property Tax: $10000
Annual Insurance: $5500
No HOA
Annual Maint.: $10000 (3 year avg. and covers several major non-routine upgrades/replacements) expect actual avg. to be maybe $5000ish.

 

[Tortoise]

1360 sq. ft. house w/ 2-car attached garage on 6,000 sq. ft. lot in California. California has a 2% annual cap on property tax increases. Latest county appraisal says our house and property are worth $459k.

Annual Property tax: $6,107
Annual Insurance: $850

 

[Amethyst]

I still remember your son/nephew (can't recall which) and his American Eagle tattoo!

Amethyst, thanks for the welcome back note. Good to see some of the other folks are still hanging around. Maybe this will get me back in the groove.