How to Tackle Your Home’s Timeline of Big Expenses
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Here's your money briefing for Sunday, May 12th. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. This is the third installment of our series, Buying a Home and Keeping It,
You've got the perfect home. You've got the mortgage payments set. And after all the fits and starts, your renovations are done. But your home being perfect isn't defined by a moment in time when all the work is done.
I would say if you're living in a home, you're basically always in a state of checking. Your house is a complicated machine. It has a lot of systems and components in it. And those systems and components are getting older. They're wearing out.
We'll talk to home inspector Nick Gromyko and Wall Street Journal reporter Veronica Dagger about the cost of maintaining your home. And we'll hear from a couple who encountered a big expense after they bought their dream home. That's after the break.
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What maintenance costs and themes does this episode introduce about homeownership?
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Nick Romico is the founder of the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors. In his experience, the first step for homebuyers is making sure to get a professional in the door to give your home a once-over.
It's important that homebuyers get a home inspection as well as an annual inspection. or at least every now and then an inspection on their house if they haven't had one in a while. You would do that with your own body. You should also do that with your house.
You heard that right. An annual inspection. Similar to the type of inspection you'd have done when you're looking to buy a home.
Well, everything from the roof, plumbing, heating systems, the foundation, the interior, the exterior.
He describes it as a preventative measure to catch things that can be wrong with your home before they become a bigger problem. But let's be real. Despite what home inspectors might want, most people don't call them up once a year or even every few years, which is what some real estate professionals recommend. A home inspection can cost you around $300 to $500, which can add up over the years. So if you're not able to hire a professional to come in, there are a few things you should keep in mind as you budget for the maintenance of your home.
As it approaches 20 years in age, things start to go wrong. Most of your appliances won't make it to 20 years. your furnace will probably need some work. Roofs start to fail at about 20 years. If you're buying a home and it's 20 years old, you should probably take a look at all the systems and components to see what stage of life they're in.
But the timeline of repairs doesn't begin when your house hits the 20-year mark. There are some wear and tear milestones that you're likely to encounter. The average lifespan of air conditioners in the U.S., for example, is about 13 years. And the tank water heater will last you about the same.
I would say if you're living in a home, you're basically always in a state of checking, right? You're always keeping your eye open for anything that could be going wrong with your house.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:05
2
What maintenance costs and themes does this episode introduce about homeownership?
2:05–11:07
3
Why do experts recommend annual or periodic home inspections and what should they cover?
11:07–17:01
4
When should homeowners expect major systems like roofs, furnaces, and water heaters to need replacement?
17:01–17:23
Speakers
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