What are “Carrying Costs?”
When you move into your home you might be thinking about a million different things and it is completely normal to forget about your monthly carrying costs for owning your property. If and when you rented, many of these costs are all lumped into your monthly rent, but now that you own a home, these are costs that you must make sure are taken care of each month.
Examples of Monthly Expenses that add to Carrying Costs
Table below shows the estimated monthly carrying costs for a $400,000 home with a $320,000 mortgage with an interest rate of 3.29% amortized over 25 years.
Carrying Cost | Explained | Monthly Payment |
Mortgage Payment | Your prorated monthly mortgage payment | $1,562.40 |
Hydro and Gas | This would be electricity and heating for your home. Think seasonally as costs go up in the in very cold or warm weather to power your heating or cooling system. | $300 |
Property Tax | Property taxes are levied 6 times a year, march-april-may and june-july-september. The number on the right is the property tax averaged over 12 months. | $330 |
Home Insurance | Mandatory for all home purchases. Insurance to cover home liabilities, such as fire. The premium is generally paid out annually. So the cost to the right is a 12 month average. | $60 |
Government Utilities | These are yearly costs for water, garbage disposal and sewage. | $40 |
Cable and Internet | Various services are more or less depending on your level of service. If you have a home phone, that cost should also be accounted for. | $110 |
Condo Fees | If applicable, monthly fees paid out to the building management. | ~$400 |
Home Maintenance | This would include anything that may need to be purchased or repaired around the home. This could include a furnace, electrical, etc. Thirty-two percent of all buyers incurred unexpected expenses during the home buying process, of which immediate repairs were the most common unexpected costs identified.(1) the | TBD |
