Anyone who owns a home or is about to buy a home is typically very aware that the costs don’t end once the deed has been transferred to their name!
For that reason I take a certain amount of issue with a Zillow/Thumbtack study that placed the moniker ‘hidden costs’ on the yearly home ownership expenses that include property taxes, homeowners insurance and utilities.
To be fair, however, the study was done for the benefit of first-time buyers who may only be thinking of mortgage payments without taking the ancillary costs into consideration.
But that said, as someone who looked and now lives in Nassau County, Long Island, New York I can tell you that these issues, particularly taxes, were front and center during the decision-making process of where to look for a home.
I am therefore turning green with envy when I see the the average annual ‘hidden costs’ for metro areas around the country all topping-out at under $10,000!
Surprisingly the New York metro area was not included in the study with my thinking there being that those numbers, particularly for areas outside New York City, would have skewed the national averages too much.
‘According to the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation, the median property tax bill in Nassau County in 2010 was $9,289. In Suffolk County it was $7,768. Nationally, it was $2,043.‘ (Newsday)
That was 2010 and those numbers, particularly in Nassau County, have gone up, up, up from there!
And now the national costs…
Average Homeowner Costs Across The Country (except for New York)
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Article author Michael Haltman is the President of Hallmark Abstract Service in New York.
HAS is a provider of title insurance in New York State for residential and commercial real estate transactions.
For anyone either buying or refinancing a property your attorney will likely recommend a title insurance provider, although you always have the right to choose your own (click here to learn more)!
If you have any questions you can reach Michael by email at mhaltman@hallmarkabstractllc.com.
H/T Business Insider
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