Rent is a payment. A mortgage is a payment plus four more.
Leases, deposits, utilities, mortgages, closing costs and the maintenance nobody warns you about. Learn the real cost of a roof before the test module hands you a lease to sign.
Look for: length of term, monthly rent, late fee and grace period, who pays which utilities, pet rules, early-termination penalty, and what counts as normal wear vs. damage. Photograph everything the day you move in — that's how you get your deposit back.
First month + security deposit (often one month) + sometimes last month + application fees + utility deposits + the boring stuff you own nothing of yet. Budget roughly 2.5 to 3 times the monthly rent just to walk in the door.
PITI: Principal, Interest, Taxes and Insurance. On a $325,000 house with $15,000 down, the loan payment might be about $2,050 while taxes add $315 and insurance $175 — before utilities of roughly $350 and maintenance of $250. The advertised payment is never the real payment.
Closing costs run about 2–5% of the price and are due in cash at signing — appraisal, title, loan fees, prepaid taxes. Putting less than 20% down usually adds PMI, a monthly insurance premium that protects the lender, not you.
The common rule is 1% of the home's value per year for maintenance — about $3,250 on a $325,000 house. Water heaters, roofs and HVAC all die on a schedule. Renters call the landlord; owners call and pay.
MOVE-IN CASH
~3× rent
First month, deposit, fees
CLOSING COSTS
2–5%
Of the purchase price, in cash
YEARLY MAINTENANCE
~1%
Of the home's value
THE MISTAKE MOST PEOPLE MAKE
Signing a lease you didn't read because the kitchen looked nice.
YOU'RE PREPPED
Same subject, real scenes, your Life Ready Score™.