Buyer’s remorse is not uncommon for first-time homebuyers, but the monthly mortgage payment isn’t why.
A Bankrate survey found that 63 percent of young buyers regret their purchase.
At the top of the buyer’s remorse list are the unexpected maintenance costs that come with homeownership.
“For a lot of millennials, this is probably the first time they’ve had to pay for this on their own,” Bankrate’s Deborah Kearns told WTOP.
“Before, when they were a renter, they were used to calling the landlord and saying ‘Hey, my air conditioner is broken, can you come and fix it,’ so this is a huge shock to their wallets,” she said.
Top maintenance expenses, many of them big-ticket items and unexpected repairs, are heating and air conditioning, water heaters, gutters, windows, plumbing and electrical issues and appliance replacements.
Bankrate emphasizes to first-time buyers that these are things that should be budgeted for.
“I always recommend that people always have at least one percent of their home’s purchase price set aside in an account that is not their emergency fund,” Kearns said. “I call it the home repair ‘oops’ fund that you really want to have set aside.”
Other top reasons for first-time homebuyer remorse include the house or condo ending up being too small and the neighborhood not being what they wanted.
