Here's the truth. People are afraid of divulging their own personal finances. After all, they are personal. Ask a co-worker how much they earn and you'll likely get a look of shock followed by something along the lines of, "That's none of your business!" An expletive may even pop up.
I really hate that. I don't like money secrets. I am an open person though I suppose there are times when keeping certain things back is better. However, this blog is an open "forum" of knowledge. If you're here, either through curiosity or for your own research, then I want to be honest with you. I feel it is important for prospective historic home owners to know what they are getting into. Seeing a happy, smiling family on a season of This Old House never reflects the actual issues of affording that period addition or fixing that rotted main support. The show never really talks of true costs or how financing was achieved. This type of home is expensive. Expensive is a relative term. So this page will reveal our expenses year by year. You be the judge of what expensive is.
Below you will find our family's home finances in regards to our mortgage (interest, principal, taxes, insurance and the unfortunate PMI), heating oil, burning wood, electricity, city water and sewer, repairs to the home and finally, improvements. The expenses were incurred annually to date while owning and maintaining a 260+ year old historic home (*we moved into our home in October of 2011, so that year is not a full year of expenses):
Note: Our son was born in June of 2012 and our daughter in May of 2015. Heating, electricity for our cloths dryer and water for our cloths washer have dramatically increased our expenses in those fields due to cloth diapers and maintaining a comfortable atmosphere for our growing children.
Note: Our son was born in June of 2012 and our daughter in May of 2015. Heating, electricity for our cloths dryer and water for our cloths washer have dramatically increased our expenses in those fields due to cloth diapers and maintaining a comfortable atmosphere for our growing children.
| The James Warner House | |
|---|---|
| Bedrooms: | 3 BR |
| Bathrooms: | 1.5 Baths |
| Total Rooms: | 10 Rooms |
| Total Square Footage: | 2,211 SF |
| Water/Sewer: | City |
| Heating System: | Combination circa 1960 boiler (185,000 btu) for hot water and hot water fed baseboard with supplemental heat from a wood stove (74,300 btu, installed 2012). |
| Insulation: | Present in the attic and basement only. The exterior walls are 2" thick of wood planking with no space for modern insulation. The windows are not original and are quite drafty. |
| Purchase Price: | $275,000.00 |
| Loan Amount: | $245,000.00 |
| Term: | 30 Years |
| Interest Rate: | 4.375% |
| Refinanced: April 2015 | |
|---|---|
| New Rate: | 2.890% |
| New Term: | 15 year, 180 payments |
| New Loan Amount: | $220,800.00 |
| "Good Faith Estimate": | $10,370.80 |
| Actual Cost: | $7,704.98 |
| Appraisal: | $276,000.00 |
| Bi-Weekly Payments: | $966.41 |
| Annual Hazard Insurance: | $XXXX.XX |
| Notes: | The GFE's number included costs paid outside of the closing; such as the appraiser and application fee. The bank's terms dictated that the home hazard insurance not be included within the mortgage and that a savings account be opened within the bank for automatic bi-weekly payments of the mortgage. The hazard insurance was modified based on new programs available to us and the overall valuation of our home. |
| Year | Mortgage | Oil | Gallons | Avg. Winter Temp. | Wood | Electric | Water | Repairs | Improvements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011* | $4,773.10 | $1,847.96 | 514.5 | 38.0°F | $0.00 | $244.86 | $0.00 | $1,824.16 | $809.14 |
| 2012 | $25,057.45 | $3,608.03 | 961.5 | 37.0°F | $280.00 | $1,472.79 | $247.47 | $344.41 | $4,124.44 |
| 2013 | $25,639.54 | $6,201.26 | 1,096.4 | 34.3°F | $0.00 | $1,671.43 | $610.42 | $4,718.10 | $211.74 |
| 2014 | $24,702.92 | $6,367.83 | 1,773.3 | 32.5°F | $225.00 | $1,869.68 | $685.95 | $0.00 | $20,565.12 |
| 2015 | $25,126.22 | $4,587.38 | 1,831.0 | 33.5°F | $900.00 | $2,063.78 | - | - | - |
| 2016 | $25,200.34 | $2,890.65 | 1,439.7 | 35.8°F | $0.00 | $2,142.47 | - | - | - |
| 2017 | $25,020.99 | $3,888.78 | 1,628.9 | 34.8°F | $0.00 | $2,012.81 | - | - | - |
| 2018 | - | - | - | 33.8°F | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2019 | - | - | - | °F | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2020 | - | - | - | °F | - | - | - | - | - |
| Year | Total Home Expenses |
|---|---|
| 2011* | $9,479.22 |
| 2012 | $35,134.59 |
| 2013 | $39,054.49 |
| 2014 | $54,416.50 |
| 2015 | - |
| 2016 | - |
| 2017 | - |
| 2018 | - |
| 2019 | - |
