First-Time Homeowners Overwhelmed by Unexpected Costs: 41% Spent More Than Expected on Maintenance and Repairs

When buying your first home, you’ll likely have budgeted out all necessary payments before signing on the dotted line. But what about the costs you’ll incur after you’ve moved into your first home? We surveyed over 1,000 people who bought homes in the past five years to explore homeowner attitudes and find what first-time buyers spent their money on, and the results revealed that many underestimate the ongoing financial reality of homeownership.

Overall Homeowner Attitudes

Overall, our survey found that first time homebuyers are less aware of the costs that come along with owning a home, and are significantly more likely to feel they spent more than they expected on home maintenance, improvements, and emergencies compared to those who have owned multiple homes (41% v 31%). When asked what was most surprising to them in the first 6 months about owning a home, the cost of home improvement projects took the lead with 19% of respondents.

Homebuyer attitudes varied with age as well. The survey revealed that 43% of young homeowners (ages 18-24) feel uncomfortable about the amount they spent on home maintenance, improvements and emergencies, which is significantly higher than older generations. 

However–and likely due to the current cost of homes in today’s economy–first time homeowners are taking the process seriously. We found that first-time home buyers are significantly more likely to attend home inspections before buying their home than seasoned homeowners, a whopping 68% compared to 54% for veteran homeowners. 

Additionally, first-timers are more likely to take time to get to know where certain key safety features were in the home, specifically:

• How to find the water shut-off valve: 81% of first-time homeowners knew where this is versus 72% of non-first timers. 

• 84% of first-time homeowners know where their circuit breaker is, compared to 75% of non-first-time homeowners. 

Importantly, despite the unexpected costs they faced as new homebuyers, homeownership satisfaction felt by those surveyed increased over time. Initially, only 53% of homeowners believed owning a home would be enjoyable. After just one year of homeownership, that number jumped to 65%.

Home Improvement Projects

Home improvement projects, like new appliance installation, are often synonymous with purchasing a new house. After all, it makes perfect sense to update things like flooring, landscaping, and even windows and doors to make your first house feel like your forever home.

We did further research in individual states on how much homeowners spent in the first 6 months in their new home on maintenance, improvement and repairs. The results revealed that homeowners in Massachusetts spent the most compared to the value of their home (0.46% of their home value), while homeowners in California spent 0.27% of their home’s value on maintenance, improvement and repairs.

Interestingly, compared to repeat homebuyers, first-time home buyers are more likely to want to complete home improvement projects upon purchasing their home–34% compared to 28%. When it comes to actually achieving their planned projects after a year, 28% of first-timers surveyed succeeded, compared with just 18% of repeat buyers. 

While first-time homeowners aren’t afraid to spend some extra money to have the home of their dreams, nearly 30% regret not completing more home projects within the first six months of homeownership. Of that 30%, 

• Over 40% regret not completing a kitchen remodel, which can cost between $23,600 and $142,000 on average. 

• 38.5% regret not spending money on the cost of interior painting, which is $1,000 to $3,100 for the average homeowner. 

• 37.2% of those regretted not installing new flooring, ranging from $1,500 to $4,800. 

35.8% of those wished they had spent the cost of a bathroom remodel, ranging from $13,800 to $46,000.