What Fees Can I Expect To Pay When Buying My First Home?

Ah, your first home! It’s an exciting and daunting time all rolled up into one. Our biggest piece of advice that we hope you follow is to be prepared. Take your time, save the right amount of money and you will be smooth sailing. To help you get started, here are common fees that you can expect to pay when purchasing your first home.

 

Your Down Payment

This is the first and the most common fee that everyone associates with buying their first home. Your down payment should range anywhere from 5 to 20% or higher if you can swing that. For obvious reasons, banks may wave their stress tests and a requirement for mortgage insurance if you are over a certain percentage (typically 20%) so that’s even more incentive to save those pennies!

 

Closing Costs

In this section, we’re going to group a few fees that you will need to cough up some cash for. When the day comes that you can finally get your keys, you will also be on the hook for closing costs. This can include land transfer taxes, lawyers fees, fees to cover your agents’ services and more. It’s a good idea to save an additional 5% over and above you down payment to cover these items.

 

Moving Costs

Let’s not dance around this point. Moving is EXPENSIVE! If you’re hiring a company to move for you then that is an obvious added cost, but even if you are just renting a truck and having friends help, the costs still add up. Think moving boxes, bubble wrap, packing paper, tape…not to mention your typical pizza and beer costs to thank everyone that donated their time to help get you all settled.

 

Utility Setup

If you’ve never had a major utility in your name, this part will definitely shock you a little bit. When setting up your natural gas and hydro your utility companies can request a deposit that ranges anywhere from $250 – 500 to secure your account. Rest assured this money will be returned to you upon 6 -12 months of on-time payment history but is still another cost to add to your list. Pro tip: set up automatic withdrawals with your utility company as they will sometimes wave the security fees if you give them permission to draw the money right from your account.

 

When you’re ready to start exploring your options, give us a call. Our team will happily walk you through everything you need to know about buying your first home and make sure this is a memorable experience.