The real cost of owning a home
The real cost of owning a home
拥有住房的真实成本
You’ve probably heard someone say something to the effect of “renting is just throwing your money away”. Don’t believe it. It’s a glib statement that simply isn’t true. There are so many hidden costs to home ownership that most people who have never owned a home don’t know about. If you want to make an informed decision about whether to buy a home or keep renting, then you need to understand these costs. I’ll break them down for you in this post, showing my actual costs. 你可能听过有人说类似“租房就是把钱扔进水里”的话。别信这一套。这是一种轻率的说法，根本不是事实。拥有住房存在许多隐形成本，大多数从未买过房的人对此一无所知。如果你想在买房还是继续租房之间做出明智的决定，就必须了解这些成本。我将在本文中为你逐一拆解，并展示我的实际支出。
Expenses: Mortgage Loan Fees
支出：抵押贷款费用
Getting a loan is not cheap. When I bought my home, the total settlement costs were about 3% of the value of the home. Here is the breakdown of my loan costs when I bought my house. Keep in mind this was way back in early 2011, so current costs are undoubtedly higher: 贷款并不便宜。当我买房时，总结算成本约为房屋价值的 3%。以下是我买房时的贷款费用明细。请记住，这还是 2011 年初的情况，现在的成本无疑更高：
| FEE | TOTAL |
|---|---|
| Origination charge | $594.00 |
| Credit report | $14.84 |
| Appraisal | $395.00 |
| Tax service fee | $70.00 |
| Flood life of loan fee | $19.00 |
| Abstract or title search | $150.00 |
| Title exam/attorney opinion | $550.00 |
| Notary | $35.00 |
| Title insurance (lender coverage) | $840.00 |
| Title insurance (owner coverage) | $1,785.00 |
| Recording fee - deed | $40.00 |
| Recording fee - mortgage | $40.00 |
| State tax/stamp - deed | $3,612.50 |
| Recording fee - assignment | $40.00 |
| Survey | $225.00 |
| Pest inspection | $55.00 |
| Interest (1 day) | $42.58 |
| Escrow (tax and insurance) | $3,745.00 |
| 1st year insurance premium | $900.00 |
| Aggregate adjustment | ($375.00) |
That’s $12,777.92 to get the loan. 获得这笔贷款总共花费了 12,777.92 美元。
Mortgage Payment
抵押贷款还款
When you get a loan to buy a house, you pay for two main things each month: principal and interest. The principal reduces how much you owe, and the interest is what the bank earns for lending you the money. I don’t consider principal an expense, since paying it doesn’t change your net worth. Sure, your checking account has less money in it, but you also have less debt. Interest, on the other hand, is an expense. It lowers your net worth. 当你贷款买房时，每月主要支付两部分：本金和利息。本金用于减少你的欠款，而利息是银行借钱给你的收益。我不认为本金是支出，因为偿还本金并不会改变你的净资产。当然，你的支票账户里的钱少了，但你的债务也少了。相反，利息是支出，它会降低你的净资产。
About 80% of your first mortgage payment is interest. Not much different than renting at first. Over time, you’ll pay less interest and more principal, but for the first few years you’ll be surprised how little you actually reduce the amount you owe. You may also have to pay Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) if you don’t have a large enough down payment. When I bought my house, you needed to put down 20% of the home price to avoid paying PMI. 你第一笔抵押贷款还款中约 80% 是利息。起初这与租房没什么两样。随着时间的推移，你支付的利息会减少，本金会增加，但在最初几年，你会惊讶地发现你偿还的债务其实非常少。如果你首付不足，可能还需要支付私人抵押贷款保险 (PMI)。我买房时，需要支付 20% 的首付才能免除 PMI。
Usually your other expenses such as taxes and insurance are included in your monthly payment, and paid into escrow each month. Insurance and taxes are automatically paid out of escrow for you once or twice a year. My first mortgage payment in January 2011 was: 通常，你的其他费用（如税费和保险）会包含在月供中，每月存入托管账户。保险和税费每年会由托管账户自动为你支付一到两次。我 2011 年 1 月的第一笔抵押贷款还款明细如下：
| ITEM | AMOUNT |
|---|---|
| Principal | $482.64 |
| Interest | $1,299.81 |
| Tax | $389.67 |
| Insurance | $44.75 |
| PMI | $113.05 |
That’s $2,329.92 per month. Less than 21% of my monthly payment was going toward paying off the loan! $1,847.28 of that was pure expense; a reduction of my net worth. At the time I bought my house, I was paying about the same amount for a very nice one-bedroom apartment in downtown Baltimore with a view of the downtown skyline, the baseball stadium, and the harbor. It makes that rent-vs-buy decision a lot less clear-cut. 每月总计 2,329.92 美元。我每月还款中用于偿还贷款本金的比例不到 21%！其中 1,847.28 美元纯属支出，是净资产的减少。我买房时，在巴尔的摩市中心租一套非常好的单身公寓，能看到市中心天际线、棒球场和港口，租金也差不多是这个数。这使得“租房还是买房”的决定变得不再那么简单明了。
I no longer pay PMI. You can request that they remove it when you think your equity in the home is 20% or more, or they will eventually remove it. The bank may charge you to have your house assessed. I pay $113.05 less per month without PMI, but tax and insurance always goes up. I currently pay $515.50 per month for tax, $111.17 per month for insurance, and $31.36 per month of escrow shortage (your escrow amount to pay taxes and insurance is estimated each year, and if they don’t estimate correctly then they add an overage/shortage charge each month to correct it). My current total mortgage payment is $2,440.48. 我现在不再支付 PMI 了。当你认为房屋净值达到 20% 或以上时，可以申请取消，或者银行最终也会自动取消。银行可能会收取房屋评估费。没有 PMI 后，我每月少付 113.05 美元，但税费和保险费一直在涨。我目前每月支付 515.50 美元的税费，111.17 美元的保险费，以及 31.36 美元的托管账户差额（每年会预估支付税费和保险的托管金额，如果预估不准，每月会增加一笔超额/不足费用来修正）。我目前的月供总额为 2,440.48 美元。
Insurance
保险
Insurance is required by the lender, but even if your house is paid off you should have insurance. The cost of insurance increases every year. You may at some point be required to make improvements (e.g. replace your roof) to keep your insurance. I currently pay $111.17 per month for homeowner’s insurance. 贷款机构要求必须购买保险，但即使你的房贷已经还清，也应该购买保险。保险费用每年都在上涨。在某些时候，你可能需要进行房屋修缮（例如更换屋顶）才能维持保险资格。我目前每月支付 111.17 美元的房主保险。
Taxes
税费
If you’re buying a house that was just built, be aware that the past property taxes on record won’t reflect how much you will actually pay for taxes. Your property value will be reassessed, and the new assessed value (which taxes are based on) will include the new structure. Taxes go up every year too. Try to find out if there’s a program to cap property assessment increases and/or tax rate increases. In my area it’s called the Homestead Tax Credit. I currently pay $515.50 per month for property taxes. 如果你购买的是刚建好的房子，请注意，记录在案的过往房产税并不能反映你实际需要缴纳的税额。你的房产价值将被重新评估，新的评估价值（税收依据）将包含新建的建筑结构。税费每年也在上涨。试着了解当地是否有限制房产评估增长和/或税率增长的政策。在我所在的地区，这被称为“宅基地税收抵免”（Homestead Tax Credit）。我目前每月支付 515.50 美元的房产税。
Maintenance & Repairs
维护与维修
General wisdom is to plan to save at least 1% of the value of your home each year to cover current and future maintenance and repairs. Older homes may have deferred maintenance or repairs that needs to be addressed, or have more undiscovered or upcoming maintenance or repairs to expect. In that case you should plan to save at a higher rate. My 1983 home had been used as a rental for years, so much of the maintenance had been neglected. Here are some examples of the maintenance and repairs I’ve had done on my house: 通常建议每年至少预留房屋价值的 1% 作为当前及未来的维护和维修费用。老房子可能存在积压的维护或维修需求，或者有更多未发现的、即将到来的维护问题。在这种情况下，你应该计划更高的储蓄比例。我那栋 1983 年建的房子曾被出租多年，因此许多维护工作都被忽视了。以下是我对房子进行的一些维护和维修示例：
- Replaced leaking skylights: $6,566 (更换漏水天窗：6,566 美元)
- New roof: $9,390 (新屋顶：9,390 美元)
- New windows: $10,530 (新窗户：10,530 美元)
- New siding: $21,046 (新外墙板：21,046 美元)
- Cut down trees that were too close to the house: $2,800 (砍伐离房子太近的树木：2,800 美元)
- Replaced polybutylene water pipes: $5,050 (更换聚丁烯水管：5,050 美元)
- New gutters: $2,714 (新排水沟：2,714 美元)
- Replaced drain pump in the dishwasher: $95 (更换洗碗机排水泵：95 美元)
- Replaced leaking faucet: $185 (更换漏水水龙头：185 美元)
- Replaced failing HVAC control board: $65 (更换故障的暖通空调控制板：65 美元)
- Yard maintenance (e.g. mulch, weed control, mowing, etc): probably around $500/year (庭院维护（如覆盖物、除草、割草等）：每年约 500 美元)
- Fixed handrail for the exterior basement stairwell: $85 (修理地下室外楼梯扶手：85 美元)
You can save a lot of money in maintenance and repairs by doing your own work whenever possible. I replaced the drain pump in my dishwasher, replaced a leaking kitchen faucet, replaced the control board on my HVAC system, do all my own yard work, etc. 尽可能自己动手可以节省大量的维护和维修费用。我更换过洗碗机的排水泵、厨房漏水的水龙头、暖通空调系统的控制板，并且自己打理所有的庭院工作等等。
Improvements
房屋改造
You may want to put up a fence, a garden shed, pave a gravel driveway, remodel a kitchen or bathroom, etc. These improvements are in addition to the maintenance and repairs. 你可能想要安装围栏、搭建花园棚、铺设碎石车道、翻新厨房或浴室等。这些改造费用是在维护和维修之外的额外支出。