Real Cost of Owning a Home
Hello all,
Historically, I've used BiggerPockets for investing and to meet people at conferences. Now it's finally time to buy our own home. Really, my wife is the real advocate of this endeavor. She wants that feeling of having our own home that we can paint and design however we want, and doesn't want to be at the mercy of a landlord raising the rent. I myself prefer the idea of a home for the same reasons but probably would lean towards renting our home and buying another investment property.
Anyways, I tried calculating the true cost of homeownership in Orlando and it seems absolutely unrealistic. Please pardon my lack of experience in this department but here are the numbers. Gemini helped create this table so it may have some issues.
Assumptions:
Home Purchase Price: 480k
20% downpayment: 96k
Interest rate: 6.1%
HOA monthly: 300
| Category | Monthly Cost | 2026 Orlando Context |
| I. FIXED CARRYING COSTS | $3,259 | Mandatory Cash Outflow |
| Mortgage (P&I) | $2,324 | $384k loan @ 6.1% (30-yr fixed). |
| Property Taxes (Net) | $345 | OC Millage (~17.2) minus Homestead Exemption. |
| Homeowners Insurance | $290 | Current market average for pool homes. |
| HOA Dues | $300 | Your specified average. |
| II. OPERATIONAL EXPENSES | $1,040 | Monthly Upkeep & Local Labor |
| Utilities (Elec/Water/Sewer) | $350 | Includes high A/C usage and pool pump power. |
| Pool Service | $150 | Professional cleaning and chemical balancing. |
| Lawn & Irrigation | $130 | Mowing, edging, and sprinkler head repairs. |
| Pest & Termite Bond | $85 | Subterranean bond + quarterly pest spray. |
| General Maintenance | $325 | "1% Rule": filters, paint, and pressure washing. |
| III. REVISED RESERVES | $262 | Capital Savings (Your New Timelines) |
| Roof Reserve | $125 | $22.5k replacement every 15 years. |
| HVAC Reserve | $71 | $14.5k replacement every 17 years. |
| Pool Resurfacing | $66 | $12k resurface every 15 years. |
| IV. TAX INCENTIVES | (-$62) | Direct Bill Reductions |
| Homestead Exemption | (-$62) | Direct savings on your OC property tax bill. |
| Federal Income Tax Benefit | $0 | Standard Deduction ($32.2k) > Itemized ($27.4k). |
| TOTAL TRUE MONTHLY COST | $4,499 | Actual All-In Monthly Budget |
Most Popular Reply
#3 Managing Your Property Contributor
For some of those costs, it is about where you decide to buy. Don't buy in an area with HOA, don't get a pool, do your own yardwork-that saves you ~$650 a month (and more because you don't have to maintain a pool).
Owning a home is about more than the monthly costs (which in the long run go down once your mortgage is paid off), it is about being able to do what you want with the home and the security of knowing your landlord can't sell your home from you. In some areas, it is cheaper to rent than buy; but at the same time remember that for many rentals the rent is high enough to cover most of the landlord's costs. For some of the costs (eg replacing a roof or HVAC), it also depends on how old those things are when you buy the home and how long you own the home. If you buy a house with a new roof and live in it for 15 years, hopefully you don't have to deal with replacing a roof.