#termite control rochester ny

[townandcountrysolutions]

Impactful Pest Control Services in Rochester and Buffalo: Town and Country Solutions

There is no better time than now to get the best professional services for your home or business and be free from pest infestation. As a local business servicing the Rochester, NY, and Buffalo regions, we at Town and Country Solutions offer a full range of pest control solutions. Whether you are having bed bugs, bats, stink bugs or any other wildlife, then our team of professionals is ready to assist you.

Rochester Bedbugs Control

Bedbugs are infamous due to the anxiety and itchiness that they give people who are unlucky to come across them. At Rochester Bedbugs Control, we aim to offer services that aim to eradicate these pests in the shortest time possible. Assuring you of quality services, we employ sophisticated methods and eco-friendly products to eradicate bedbugs from your home. Our experienced technicians perform professional inspections to determine all the sections of the property that have been infected to provide a recommended treatment plan. If you are in Trust Town and Country Solutions, your privacy and comfort will be well taken care of so grab your comforter and pillow and have a good night.

Rochester Bat Control

Although bats are beneficial occupants of our environment and are a great resource to human beings, they are not friends to have inside our house. Here are Rochester bat control services for bat problems: We know the techniques and methods used in humane bat eviction while at the same time protecting the health of your family and the Bats equally. Access points will be sealed, and recommendations will be made if the affected area is vulnerable to future invasions. By excluding the bats from your house, we can make sure that they do not pose any harm to you and your family while also ensuring that proper measures are taken to protect these fascinating creatures in their natural habitat.

Pest Control Rochester NY

Just like any other place, people living in Rochester, NY are accustomed to and confront different types of pests throughout the year. Whether you are dealing with ants and spiders, rodents, and others, we’ve got you covered and offer the best Pest Control Rochester New York. Its pest control services are fully flexible and are delivered as per the customer’s requirements. To solve this, we employ two strategies, the first one is IPM or Integrated Pest Management and the second one is PCA or Pest Control Approach which aims at both long-term prevention and instant pest control. There is a great possibility that pest infestations are currently affecting your establishment, don’t let it jeopardize your productivity and safety – partner with Town and Country Solutions today!

Rochester Stink Bug Control

The stink bug goes beyond an annoyance; it poses a risk to a homeowner’s property investments. At Rochester, we offer services that will help you or eradicate or prevent stink bugs from invading your premises. We utilize efficient methods on eliminating stink bugs and how to ensure that these pests do not come back. Our team has a vast experience with the identification of stink bugs and their behaviors as well as habits to enable the right control measures to be put into operation. Take necessary measures to protect your house and yard against the threatening stink bug intruders with our efficient stink bug treatments.

Buffalo Wildlife Removal

From squirrels to raccoons, Buffalo boasts of numerous wildlife species and chances are high; that you could have some of these animals invade your home. Buffalo Wildlife Control includes raccoon, squirrel, bird, and other similar animal control services in your area. It is for this reason that we engage in humane trapping as well as humane animal removal services which will not harm the animal or damage your property. Not only is our team qualified in removing the wildlife causes of discomfort but also in doing so safely for you and your home.

Choosing the Right Solution Provider: Town and Country Solutions

Our company, Town and Country Solutions has been established to offer excellent pest and wildlife control services. To that end, our team of certified technicians is always ready to guarantee you the best experience possible as well as a secure one. we employ safe and chemical-free products, we use safe measures to take care of your home and the natural world. That’s why when people in Rochester, NY, as well as Buffalo, need reliable assistance with pest control, they turn to us – we have been in the business for many years and strive to provide the best possible service.

Contact Us Today

Also, don’t let pests and wildlife make your life miserable. At Town and Country Solutions, we are dedicated to providing the most efficient means of eradicating pests in your homes in Rochester and Buffalo. Please allow us to assist you in providing an avenue that will meet your basic needs and most importantly, protect you from intruders.

[cwfpest]

Pest Exterminator Henrietta NY | CWF Pest

CWF pest customizes pest control programs that fit your needs. For more than 20 years we have been serving clients in Rochester, New York, Monroe County and its surrounding areas. We want to take care of your pest problem by using integrated pest management provides techniques to keep the home and business safe. We have complete knowledge about the termite control equipment, termite treatment techniques, and safety measure involved in pest control in Henrietta NY.

[ultimatepestonline]

Got Ants In Your Home? Let Our Ant Exterminators Help You  Remove Them!

We can solve your ant problem with a pest exterminator in Rochester, NY

Do you know everything there is to know about ants? Let Ultimate Pest Control in Rochester, NY, be your source for education! As a pest exterminator, we are happy to inform you of the many types, including carpenter and pavement ants.

Carpenter ants

The most common ant in the New York area that causes homeowners to seek professional help is the Carpenter Ant. They are the most noticeable of ants in and around the home being large and usually blackish, perhaps with some faintly greyish bands on the abdomen. Others may have some reddish or purplish coloration in the middle of their body. These ants can cause serious damage to wood by excavating galleries, which somewhat resembles the work of termites but can be distinguished by their very clean sandpapered appearance. Sawdust or wood shavings found in and around the home is usually an indication of a nest being excavated nearby, but very often it goes unnoticed being deposited inside a wall void. Carpenter ants do not eat wood, but they hollow out areas for nesting.

Pavement ants

Pavement ants typically are light to dark brown and sometimes have a reddish tint. Appendages are usually lighter than the rest of the body. The size of the ants within a colony will be very consistent averaging one-tenth of an inch, although the winged reproductives can be much larger. Pavement ants prefer sandy soil and usually live underground, but nests can also be found indoors in walls and under floors.

They will feed on many things, but prefer greasy and or sweet foods. They can be a particular nuisance in and around homes with slab-on-grade construction and any basement dwellings. Since they live underground, entry into a home can be obtained through hairline cracks in the foundation or basement floor even in the middle of winter.

Suspect an ant infestation on your property? Contact Ultimate Pest Control today for efficient and professional ant extermination solutions.

[vmproducts]

Exterminator rochester ny

syracuse termite control

Any individual who lives in New York is accustomed to seeing bugs throughout the year. Be that as it may, it generally appears as the climate gets hotter and the blossoms start to sprout, the rodents and bugs are more predominant in your yard and home. Here is a rundown of the most well-known springtime bugs in New York. 

American and German Cockroaches 

On the off chance that you have lived in New York throughout the springtime, you have experienced cockroaches – maybe the most unwelcome house visitor in our fine state. The two most normal sorts in the region are American and German. They can just barely get through the littlest of openings looking for food and water. A great deal of the time individuals don't understand they have these springtime bothers until it has become an out-and-out pervasion. So regardless of whether you see only one this spring, deal with it before they duplicate. 

Ants 

Ants live in provinces and seldom travel alone, so in the event that you see a couple, there's very more where they came from. Family ants are in some cases hard to distinguish, yet once you do you can find the issue and fix it. They can be distinguished by size, shading, and movement time. Following their path back to the home is the initial phase in freeing your home of these vermin. Regular sorts to pay special mind to are fire ants, woodworker ants, and pharaoh ants. On the off chance that you can't choose which species is in your home or where their home is, at that point calling an expert is the best option. 

Mosquitos 

Most New Yorkies don't have issues with mosquitos in their home, however, arrive behind schedule spring their nibbles will cover your body. Mosquitos love the warm, sticky climate, so what preferred put over New York? In the event that your yard is seeing an invasion, attempt to dispose of any standing water or tall grass. To get the various kinds of mosquitoes far from you, generally keep an anti-agents splash around and fill a pail with sugar water, and put it in a far off area in your yard. They are pulled in to the sugar water and will not trouble you so much. 

Black rodent/Rooftop rodent 

Black rodents, otherwise called rooftop rodents, are exceptionally normal New York home irritations. The signs that they are in your house are droppings, pee smells, tracks, chewing openings, and sounds. The vast majority report hearing these critters in their lofts. On the off chance that your home has these nuisances, set out snares and lure to bait them in and dispose of them as fast as could be expected. 

Scorpions 

A great many people don't see scorpions until the spring since they rest in the colder time of year and come out as the air begins to warm. Springtime in New York is the ideal climate for scorpions to flourish. New Yorkies are accustomed to exhausting out their shoes in dread of a scorpion settling in them. Scorpions are excruciating and irritating, so on the off chance that they are disturbing your home call an expert to splash the border. 

Springtime vermin are undesirable however anticipated. As New Yorkies, we need to figure out how to distinguish them and dispose of them in the most ideal manners conceivable.

Call Town and Country Solutions for complete pest control and extermination services to get rid of any kind of pests from your properties. As a prominent Rochester Pest Control company, we ensure you that 100% safe & guaranteed extermination of pests.

[nightmare-afton-cosplay]

Top 10 Markets With the Highest Hidden Costs of Owning a Home

avajjon/iStock; Sauliaka/iStock; realtor.com

When it’s finally time to get off the starting blocks and buy a new home, one of the first thing most folks do is … the math. How much do you need to in order to get a place—and how much do you need in order to keep it?

People tend to focus an awful lot on that towering down payment. Then they carefully calculate their closing costs and monthly mortgage payments. Maybe they’ll even factor in the cost of a plush new sofa, and a hot new SUV to park in the driveway. But before they settle into sweet domestic bliss, they really need to come to grips with something else, too: the true costs of homeownership.

Because they aren’t aways so obvious.

Property taxes, leaky roofs, home insurance, and termites — oh my. Truth be told, there are all sorts of hidden costs that could turn your bargain basement deal into a den of financial horrors. Unless, that is, you go in with eyes open wide. We’re here to help!  Our data team at realtor.com® ran the numbers to figure out the cities with the highest hidden costs of homeownership, all in the interest of helping fend off major coronary episodes once the bills come in.

Before you panic and renew your lease, remember that in most places, buying still beats renting in the long run—even with all the costs of ownership included. You’re building equity, remember?

The bottom line is: Be prepared for all the costs of ownership. Financial adviser Jenna Rogers with Mission Wealth Management often advises first-time home buyers to make a list of all the expenses that are expected for at least the first year.

“Open a new savings account, and designate it as the ‘home account,'” Rogers says. “Send the necessary amount to this home account every month. That way, when you have to pay property taxes, for example, you’ve already had the cash build up.”

Still, those costs can vary dramatically, depending on where you live. We ranked the 100 largest metropolitan areas by the following criteria:

Property tax rates

Home insurance premiums

Remodeling costs

Maintenance and repair costs

Hourly rate of housekeepers, home cleaners, gardeners, and landscapers

Pest control costs

Electricity, heating oil, and natural gas bills

Household goods, like a 40-inch flat-screen TV, laundry detergent, and toilet paper.

Hidden cost No. 1: Property taxes

Property taxes are one of the biggest home expenses you’ll have after a mortgage. Long-time homeowners have gotten used to this harsh reality, but newbie homeowners could be surprised to discover just how costly their tax bills can be, especially in the Northeast.

And sometimes, property taxes can seem surprisingly high. Homeowners in the Buffalo, NY, metro area, which covers the upstate counties of Erie and Niagara, pay a whopping 2.9% of their home’s value in tax. Rochester, Buffalo’s next-door neighbor, has a 2.8% rate on average.

Despite their top-ranking property tax rates, though, those cities did not make our overall top 10 list, because their cost of living is otherwise pretty low.

So what determines the home tax rate in a given area? They’re set and collected by state, county, or municipal agencies—in fact, multiple agencies often tax the same property. They’re tied to home values in an area, and used to pay for services, such as schools, and fire and police departments. That’s why they can be tough to predict. For example, some cash-strapped cities will charge a higher rate in order to fund better services.

And sometimes, they’re just indicators of ultra-expensive markets. Property taxes are particularly high in the New York metropolitan statistical area, which spans New York City, as well as Jersey City and Newark in New Jersey. Homeowners there pay an average of $7,300* in property tax, roughly 2% of their home’s value. (Metropolitan statistical areas, as defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget, are highly populated areas made up of one or more city cores, surrounded by suburban and rural communities that share economic ties.)

That’s way over the national average of just over $2,100, according to the Census Bureau.

This is where the equation gets simpler: “In states where you have wealthier people with more expensive homes, that tends to drive property taxes higher,” says John Buhl, spokesperson for the Tax Foundation, a Washington, DC-based think tank.

The heavy tax burden is among the leading reasons that taxpayers are fleeing New York—the state is losing more residents than any other, according to a study by newgeography.com.

Connecticut also has two metros that made our top 10, mostly because of high tax rates. Homeowners in metro Bridgeport pay 1.7% of their home’s value in tax, and those in metro New Haven pay 2.1%. Because the Bridgeport metro area stretches into wealthy Fairfield County enclaves like New Canaan and Greenwich—where hedge-fund managers and CEOs drop millions on real estate—the area has an average property tax bill of nearly $7,000 a year.

Texas, with its sprawling properties and famously affordable real estate, has surprisingly expensive property taxes. The Lone State doesn’t collect income taxes, meaning that the government relies more heavily on property taxes to fund agencies and services. The tax rate in Houston is 1.8%.

Hidden cost No. 2: Home insurance

Skip the flood insurance, and you could be looking at a deluge of expenses.

EEI_Tony/iStock

Even if you’re a gambler at heart, home insurance is indispensable when it comes to protecting major assets. And they don’t get much larger than a home. For those who take out a mortgage, it’s required by the lender. For everyone else, insurance is highly recommended—who wants to risk a six-digit loss? Because stuff happens.

Florida, with a long coastline that bears the brunt of hurricanes and tropical storms, has the country’s highest average home insurance cost, at $298** per month. That’s nearly three times the national average of $102, according to Insurance.com. The pricey premiums add to the financial burdens of homeowners in Cape Coral and Miami, which both rank high on the list.

Insurance also takes a big bite out of the paychecks of New Orleans homeowners. Think two names: Katrina and Rita. After those hurricanes, not being able to find affordable insurance has become a hurdle for home buyers, especially first-timers. Why do they call this place the Big Easy again?

“In high flood-risk neighborhoods, the insurance is so expensive that it’s nearly impossible for a young couple to buy,” says Richard Jeansonne, a broker at French Quarter Realty in New Orleans. “With mortgage, flood insurance, and other expenses, it’s just not something they can afford.”

Because the cost of flood insurance is based on on the elevation of the house, buying a home on higher ground reduces the premium. Homes along the Mississippi River, like in the French Quarter and Uptown neighborhoods, are built on an elevated riverbank and are therefore cheaper to insure.

Everything’s bigger in Texas—and so are insurance premiums. After all, Texas residents are susceptible to a myriad of perils, from hailstorms to tornadoes to wildfires to floods. All the risks amount to an average of $162 in home insurance every month. Ouch!

In disaster-prone areas, homeowners could get a discount on insurance for securing the foundation and installing a metal roof, according to Insurance Council of Texas spokesman Mark Hanna. A good security system and close proximity to highly rated fire departments also reduce the premium. And maintaining a high credit score can lower your insurance rates too—sort of a housing win-win.

Hidden cost No. 3: Maintenance and remodeling

Need a new roof? It’ll cost ya.

tinabelle/iStock

One of the biggest fears of cash-strapped homeowners everywhere: an issue they might not have noticed, like a leaky roof or cracked foundation, will snowball into a catastrophe, and cost a fortune to repair.

No wonder conventional real estate wisdom (CREW) dictates that you should set aside 1% of your home’s value for maintenance each year. But the real amount depends on the condition and location of your home. Repairs to storm-beaten New Orleans homes cost $31,650 on average, among the highest in our study.

In addition to repairs, homeowners need to continue investing in their homes to maintain—or better yet, increase—valuations. That’s why American homeowners are shelling out more and more on improvements. In 2016, they spent $361 billion, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. That’s up 13.5% from the previous peak in 2007.

Serious renovation, of course, goes way beyond picking out curtain patterns in Home Depot. A standard kitchen remodel project costs around $21,680 nationally, and even repainting a home’s interior costs around $1,700, according to HomeAdvisor’s True Cost Guide. And the number goes up exponentially where labor and material costs are high. In Los Angeles, the average cost of kitchen renovation is $31,177.

“When the house price is higher on average, it feels more justifiable to spend more on the house itself,” says Brad Hunter, HomeAdvisor chief economist. “Somebody in Los Angeles and San Francisco is going to be willing to pay a lot more on a kitchen than, say, Provo, Utah.”

Hidden cost No. 4: Utility bills

Homeowners can’t forget those bills for water, power, and trash that arrive each month. If you’re moving from an apartment to a home for the first time, know that the increase in square footage can pack a real punch, in a bigger utility bill.

Connecticut homeowners spend the most on heating oil, at $104 a month, according to a WalletHub analysis. In the Bridgeport metro, heating oil plus natural gas and electricity totals $309 a month, the highest in our study.

Florida’s sunny climate means that residents aren’t likely to have high heating bills. But the summer heat and humidity means that Floridians are likely to be cranking those air conditioners. Homeowners in Cape Coral pay some of the country’s highest electricity bills, at $216 a month. Not too far away, in Miami, they pay $184 a month for electricity.

In Hawaii, electricity is produced by petroleum-fired power plants. As you might imagine, petroleum must be shipped onto the islands, adding to the cost of production—and utility bills. Frugal homeowners usually install solar panels. This helps to cut down on their electricity bills, which average $172 a month in Honolulu.

Hidden cost No. 5: Domestic labor

Those windows won’t wash themselves…

Bill Oxford/iStock

After a few months lugging canister vacuums up and down two flights of stairs, you may finally give up and decide to hire someone to maintain your sanity. But don’t underestimate the price of this peace of mind.

The average rate of a housekeeper is $12.50 an hour across the country, according to Care.com, an online marketplace for housekeepers and care providers. If you hire a housekeeper for three hours every month, that adds up to $450 a year.

Depending on where you live, the rate could also go up considerably—to $15 an hour or above in New York, America’s most expensive city.

Dealing with pests like mice, termites, cockroaches, and bedbugs costs $178 on average, according to HomeAdvisor. In Honolulu, the cost goes up to almost $300. The cost of living in paradise vermin-free is steep.

Mowing the lawns and blowing leaves are traditionally DIY projects, but they’re easy ones to neglect. Before you know it, your nosy neighbor has already blabbed to the neighborhood association, and fines are accruing. Bummer! The cost of outsourcing varies, depending on lawn size and the extent of the work. On average, homeowners spend about $156 on lawn services, according to HomeAdvisor.

Does it make sense to shell out for such upkeep? Says financial adviser Rogers, “It’s really all a matter of budgeting, and finding out what’s most important to you.”

* Property tax rates are calculated using the U.S. Census Bureau’s median tax and median home value. For every metro area, tax rates are the average of all counties within the metro boundary. The boundary is defined by the Office of Management and Budget. 

** Average cost of insurance refers to policies on a $200,000 home with a $1,000 deductible and a $100,000 liability.

The post Top 10 Markets With the Highest Hidden Costs of Owning a Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

from http://www.realtor.com/news/trends/top-10-markets-with-the-highest-hidden-cost-of-homeownership/

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Do You Live in One of Orkin’s Top 50 Rattiest Cities?

Today, Orkin released its annual Top 50 Rattiest Cities List. The list is based on the metro areas where Orkin has conducted the most rodent treatments (residential and commercial) from September 15, 2017 through September 15, 2018.

Do you live in one of the rattiest cities in America? Image: Ed Sologa Design Build

The top 10 on the Rattiest Cities list include, in order: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Baltimore, and Denver. The next 10 on the Rattiest Cities list include Minneapolis-St. Paul, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Boston, Seattle, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Hartford, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati.

Spots 21-30: Milwaukee, Charlotte, Houston, Portland, Columbus OH, San Diego, Raleigh-Durham, Buffalo, New Orleans, and Norfolk. Spots 31-40: Richmond, Albany, Kansas City, Portland, Nashville, St. Louis, Sacramento, Greenville, Grand Rapids, and Phoenix.

Rounding out the top 50 of the Rattiest Cities: Orlando, Tampa, Burlington NY, Champaign, Rochester NY, Syracuse, Charleston WV, Dayton, Memphis, and Flint.

Here’s what you need to know about rats and other pests – including ways to keep them from setting up shop in your home.

Mi casa es su casa?

Pests like warmth as much as you do. Image: The PRG Group

When temperatures drop, most people try to escape the cold by spending more time in the house. However, insects and critters are also seeking warmth and shelter wherever they can find it. “These unwanted visitors primarily include rodents, cockroaches, spiders, and ants,” according to Dr. Jim Fredericks, chief entomologist for the National Pest Management Association (NPMA).

But aren’t they equipped stay outside regardless of the season?  Nope. “Rodents like to come inside because they aren’t well adapted to survive the cold coming with fall and winter,” says Glen Ramsey, BCE, Technical Services Manager at Orkin. “Depending on what part of the country you are in, there are a variety of other pests that want to come inside – for example, ladybugs, boxelder bugs and stink bugs – and will look for small holes or gaps to protect themselves from rain, snow, or cold weather,” Ramsey explains.

Understand pest dangers

Mice can damage your electrical wires and start a fire. Image: Richard Hughes/Element 5 Architecture

Some pests are just a nuisance, but others can cause serious problems. For example, Dr. Fredericks says that rodents such as roof rats and house mice can damage your drywall and electrical wires – and the latter can lead to house fires! “They also transmit pathogens like salmonella and other diseases.”

Also, he says that cockroaches carry bacteria and can contaminate your food. “In addition, rodents and cockroaches can both trigger allergy and asthma symptoms, and spiders and ants – which can be difficult to eradicate once they settle in, can threaten humans if disturbed,” Dr. Fredericks warns.

So how can you keep them out of your home?

Eliminate food sources

Airtight containers keep pests out. Image: AMC Design

In addition to shelter, Dr. Fredericks says these invaders are also looking for food and water.  “Eliminate potential food sources for pests by keeping kitchen counters clean, disposing of garbage regularly in sealed receptacles and storing food in airtight containers,” he advises. Dr. Fredericks also warns against leaving your pet’s food dishes outside for extended periods of time.  “In addition, keep basements and attics well ventilated and dry to prevent moisture buildup,” he says.

Remove clutter and debris

Try to keep your belongings off the floor. Image: Garage Guru

Robert Taylor is the owner of The Real Estate Solutions Guy in Sacramento, CA. The company specializes in remodeling run-down homes, and Taylor says they see a lot of home and estates that have problems with mice and other rodents. “One cause of this an abundance of clutter lying around the house and against the house where rodents can hide – and this can be clutter in the garage, in rooms in the house or even outside against the house,” Taylor explains.

“Animals need a safe place to hide from predators, whether this be your household pets or other animals,” Taylor says. He adds that clutter creates a place to hide and a place to nest, and recommends removing clutter to help remove rodent problems.

Gretchen White, M.S., Animal Nuisance Biologist at Scotts Miracle-Gro has a few additional tips. “Store materials off the floors on shelves, wherever possible, in rodent-proof containers,” White says. “Use rodent-proof storage bins and prevent access to paper and fabric that could be used as nesting material.”

Don’t lend a helping hand

Don’t store firewood next to your house. Image: Dean Herald-Rolling Stone Landscapes

You should keep the exterior walls of your home clean for aesthetic reasons. But according to Taylor, this will also reduce the probability of subterranean termites finding a way into your home. “And, if you live in an area that uses firewood, be sure not to keep the firewood stacked against your house,” Taylor advises.

Sydney Crawley, Ph.D., Public Health Entomologist, Scotts Miracle-Gro, agrees. “ If you must stack firewood, keep stacks elevated and store more than 20 feet away from the home — Do not stack firewood directly against your home’s exterior,” Crawley warns.

Also, if you have a compost site/yard waste, she recommends monitoring it regularly to prevent insect breeding.

Tame the landscape

Keep trees and bushes from touching your house. Image: Minnetonka Custom Homes

Another way you can avoid lending a helping hand to pests is by maintaining your landscape. “Trees should be pruned back at least five feet from the roof to prevent access to your house from rodents,” Taylor advises. “Ivy and other vine type plants also need to be trimmed back so that they don’t create a pathway to your roof or the vents in your eaves” he says.

In fact, Ramsey says there should be a 12-18 inch buffer around the home so stop pests from entering your home through surrounding plants. “Look around your home for pest-attractive plants; ladybugs feed on other insects that drink plant juices; boxelder bugs and stink bugs feed on the plants themselves,” Ramsey explains.

Seal any holes

Check for gaps around pipes. Image: Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove

Homeowners use air vents so the house can breathe. However, if they contain holes, Taylor recommends replacing them. “Even the smallest of holes can allow a mouse or other rodent access into your home.” He also recommends looking for openings inside the house. “Look behind your stove where the electrical or gas may come out of the wall, look underneath your sinks where the plumbing comes out of the wall.” If there is an excessive amount of space where the pipes enter the wall, he says this will allow rodents to enter your home. “Mice may find a way into your walls, but that doesn’t mean you need to let them find a way into your house through these gaps,” Taylor says. “Have the gaps sealed tight with metal flanges that you can buy from your local hardware store, or sealed off properly by a skilled handyman.”

Dr. Fredericks says you can also seal exterior cracks and crevices with caulk and steel wool. “Install door sweeps and repair damaged screens, as torn window screens and cracks under doors are ideal entry points for pests.” He also says that it’s possible for you to bring pests in the house yourself. “Inspect items like boxed deliveries and grocery bags before bringing them inside,” Dr. Fredericks says.

Remove offenders

As a last resort, set traps to catch pests. Image: Euroline Steel Windows

Despite your best efforts, especially if you live in one of Orkin’s Rattiest Cities, it’s possible that pests may find a way into your home. “Some areas are just more prone to repeated rodent problems, like those close to wooded areas or located in urban centers,”  White explains. “To help control rodents around the outside perimeter of your home, place bait stations approved for outdoor use, like the Tomcat Rat & Mouse Killer Child & Dog Resistant, Disposable Station or Tomcat Mouse Killer Child & Dog Resistant, Disposable Station, in areas where rodents may try to enter your home, such as doors, vents, under siding or around pipes.” Do you live in a city on Orkin’s Rattiest Cities list? What tips do you have for keeping your home pest free?

The post Do You Live in One of Orkin’s Top 50 Rattiest Cities? appeared first on Freshome.com.

from https://freshome.com/top-rattiest-cities/ via Do You Live in One of Orkin’s Top 50 Rattiest Cities?

[owensrhodes]

Do You Live in One of Orkin’s Top 50 Rattiest Cities?

Today, Orkin released its annual Top 50 Rattiest Cities List. The list is based on the metro areas where Orkin has conducted the most rodent treatments (residential and commercial) from September 15, 2017 through September 15, 2018.

Do you live in one of the rattiest cities in America? Image: Ed Sologa Design Build

The top 10 on the Rattiest Cities list include, in order: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Baltimore, and Denver. The next 10 on the Rattiest Cities list include Minneapolis-St. Paul, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Boston, Seattle, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Hartford, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati.

Spots 21-30: Milwaukee, Charlotte, Houston, Portland, Columbus OH, San Diego, Raleigh-Durham, Buffalo, New Orleans, and Norfolk. Spots 31-40: Richmond, Albany, Kansas City, Portland, Nashville, St. Louis, Sacramento, Greenville, Grand Rapids, and Phoenix.

Rounding out the top 50 of the Rattiest Cities: Orlando, Tampa, Burlington NY, Champaign, Rochester NY, Syracuse, Charleston WV, Dayton, Memphis, and Flint.

Here’s what you need to know about rats and other pests – including ways to keep them from setting up shop in your home.

Mi casa es su casa?

Pests like warmth as much as you do. Image: The PRG Group

When temperatures drop, most people try to escape the cold by spending more time in the house. However, insects and critters are also seeking warmth and shelter wherever they can find it. “These unwanted visitors primarily include rodents, cockroaches, spiders, and ants,” according to Dr. Jim Fredericks, chief entomologist for the National Pest Management Association (NPMA).

But aren’t they equipped stay outside regardless of the season?  Nope. “Rodents like to come inside because they aren’t well adapted to survive the cold coming with fall and winter,” says Glen Ramsey, BCE, Technical Services Manager at Orkin. “Depending on what part of the country you are in, there are a variety of other pests that want to come inside – for example, ladybugs, boxelder bugs and stink bugs – and will look for small holes or gaps to protect themselves from rain, snow, or cold weather,” Ramsey explains.

Understand pest dangers

Mice can damage your electrical wires and start a fire. Image: Richard Hughes/Element 5 Architecture

Some pests are just a nuisance, but others can cause serious problems. For example, Dr. Fredericks says that rodents such as roof rats and house mice can damage your drywall and electrical wires – and the latter can lead to house fires! “They also transmit pathogens like salmonella and other diseases.”

Also, he says that cockroaches carry bacteria and can contaminate your food. “In addition, rodents and cockroaches can both trigger allergy and asthma symptoms, and spiders and ants – which can be difficult to eradicate once they settle in, can threaten humans if disturbed,” Dr. Fredericks warns.

So how can you keep them out of your home?

Eliminate food sources

Airtight containers keep pests out. Image: AMC Design

In addition to shelter, Dr. Fredericks says these invaders are also looking for food and water.  “Eliminate potential food sources for pests by keeping kitchen counters clean, disposing of garbage regularly in sealed receptacles and storing food in airtight containers,” he advises. Dr. Fredericks also warns against leaving your pet’s food dishes outside for extended periods of time.  “In addition, keep basements and attics well ventilated and dry to prevent moisture buildup,” he says.

Remove clutter and debris

Try to keep your belongings off the floor. Image: Garage Guru

Robert Taylor is the owner of The Real Estate Solutions Guy in Sacramento, CA. The company specializes in remodeling run-down homes, and Taylor says they see a lot of home and estates that have problems with mice and other rodents. “One cause of this an abundance of clutter lying around the house and against the house where rodents can hide – and this can be clutter in the garage, in rooms in the house or even outside against the house,” Taylor explains.

“Animals need a safe place to hide from predators, whether this be your household pets or other animals,” Taylor says. He adds that clutter creates a place to hide and a place to nest, and recommends removing clutter to help remove rodent problems.

Gretchen White, M.S., Animal Nuisance Biologist at Scotts Miracle-Gro has a few additional tips. “Store materials off the floors on shelves, wherever possible, in rodent-proof containers,” White says. “Use rodent-proof storage bins and prevent access to paper and fabric that could be used as nesting material.”

Don’t lend a helping hand

Don’t store firewood next to your house. Image: Dean Herald-Rolling Stone Landscapes

You should keep the exterior walls of your home clean for aesthetic reasons. But according to Taylor, this will also reduce the probability of subterranean termites finding a way into your home. “And, if you live in an area that uses firewood, be sure not to keep the firewood stacked against your house,” Taylor advises.

Sydney Crawley, Ph.D., Public Health Entomologist, Scotts Miracle-Gro, agrees. “ If you must stack firewood, keep stacks elevated and store more than 20 feet away from the home — Do not stack firewood directly against your home’s exterior,” Crawley warns.

Also, if you have a compost site/yard waste, she recommends monitoring it regularly to prevent insect breeding.

Tame the landscape

Keep trees and bushes from touching your house. Image: Minnetonka Custom Homes

Another way you can avoid lending a helping hand to pests is by maintaining your landscape. “Trees should be pruned back at least five feet from the roof to prevent access to your house from rodents,” Taylor advises. “Ivy and other vine type plants also need to be trimmed back so that they don’t create a pathway to your roof or the vents in your eaves” he says.

In fact, Ramsey says there should be a 12-18 inch buffer around the home so stop pests from entering your home through surrounding plants. “Look around your home for pest-attractive plants; ladybugs feed on other insects that drink plant juices; boxelder bugs and stink bugs feed on the plants themselves,” Ramsey explains.

Seal any holes

Check for gaps around pipes. Image: Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove

Homeowners use air vents so the house can breathe. However, if they contain holes, Taylor recommends replacing them. “Even the smallest of holes can allow a mouse or other rodent access into your home.” He also recommends looking for openings inside the house. “Look behind your stove where the electrical or gas may come out of the wall, look underneath your sinks where the plumbing comes out of the wall.” If there is an excessive amount of space where the pipes enter the wall, he says this will allow rodents to enter your home. “Mice may find a way into your walls, but that doesn’t mean you need to let them find a way into your house through these gaps,” Taylor says. “Have the gaps sealed tight with metal flanges that you can buy from your local hardware store, or sealed off properly by a skilled handyman.”

Dr. Fredericks says you can also seal exterior cracks and crevices with caulk and steel wool. “Install door sweeps and repair damaged screens, as torn window screens and cracks under doors are ideal entry points for pests.” He also says that it’s possible for you to bring pests in the house yourself. “Inspect items like boxed deliveries and grocery bags before bringing them inside,” Dr. Fredericks says.

Remove offenders

As a last resort, set traps to catch pests. Image: Euroline Steel Windows

Despite your best efforts, especially if you live in one of Orkin’s Rattiest Cities, it’s possible that pests may find a way into your home. “Some areas are just more prone to repeated rodent problems, like those close to wooded areas or located in urban centers,”  White explains. “To help control rodents around the outside perimeter of your home, place bait stations approved for outdoor use, like the Tomcat Rat & Mouse Killer Child & Dog Resistant, Disposable Station or Tomcat Mouse Killer Child & Dog Resistant, Disposable Station, in areas where rodents may try to enter your home, such as doors, vents, under siding or around pipes.” Do you live in a city on Orkin’s Rattiest Cities list? What tips do you have for keeping your home pest free?

The post Do You Live in One of Orkin’s Top 50 Rattiest Cities? appeared first on Freshome.com.

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Do You Live in One of Orkin’s Top 50 Rattiest Cities? https://ift.tt/2NHsknO

Today, Orkin released its annual Top 50 Rattiest Cities List. The list is based on the metro areas where Orkin has conducted the most rodent treatments (residential and commercial) from September 15, 2017 through September 15, 2018.

Do you live in one of the rattiest cities in America? Image: Ed Sologa Design Build

The top 10 on the Rattiest Cities list include, in order: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Baltimore, and Denver. The next 10 on the Rattiest Cities list include Minneapolis-St. Paul, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Boston, Seattle, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Hartford, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati.

Spots 21-30: Milwaukee, Charlotte, Houston, Portland, Columbus OH, San Diego, Raleigh-Durham, Buffalo, New Orleans, and Norfolk. Spots 31-40: Richmond, Albany, Kansas City, Portland, Nashville, St. Louis, Sacramento, Greenville, Grand Rapids, and Phoenix.

Rounding out the top 50 of the Rattiest Cities: Orlando, Tampa, Burlington NY, Champaign, Rochester NY, Syracuse, Charleston WV, Dayton, Memphis, and Flint.

Here’s what you need to know about rats and other pests – including ways to keep them from setting up shop in your home.

Mi casa es su casa?

Pests like warmth as much as you do. Image: The PRG Group

When temperatures drop, most people try to escape the cold by spending more time in the house. However, insects and critters are also seeking warmth and shelter wherever they can find it. “These unwanted visitors primarily include rodents, cockroaches, spiders, and ants,” according to Dr. Jim Fredericks, chief entomologist for the National Pest Management Association (NPMA).

But aren’t they equipped stay outside regardless of the season?  Nope. “Rodents like to come inside because they aren’t well adapted to survive the cold coming with fall and winter,” says Glen Ramsey, BCE, Technical Services Manager at Orkin. “Depending on what part of the country you are in, there are a variety of other pests that want to come inside – for example, ladybugs, boxelder bugs and stink bugs – and will look for small holes or gaps to protect themselves from rain, snow, or cold weather,” Ramsey explains.

Understand pest dangers

Mice can damage your electrical wires and start a fire. Image: Richard Hughes/Element 5 Architecture

Some pests are just a nuisance, but others can cause serious problems. For example, Dr. Fredericks says that rodents such as roof rats and house mice can damage your drywall and electrical wires – and the latter can lead to house fires! “They also transmit pathogens like salmonella and other diseases.”

Also, he says that cockroaches carry bacteria and can contaminate your food. “In addition, rodents and cockroaches can both trigger allergy and asthma symptoms, and spiders and ants – which can be difficult to eradicate once they settle in, can threaten humans if disturbed,” Dr. Fredericks warns.

So how can you keep them out of your home?

Eliminate food sources

Airtight containers keep pests out. Image: AMC Design

In addition to shelter, Dr. Fredericks says these invaders are also looking for food and water.  “Eliminate potential food sources for pests by keeping kitchen counters clean, disposing of garbage regularly in sealed receptacles and storing food in airtight containers,” he advises. Dr. Fredericks also warns against leaving your pet’s food dishes outside for extended periods of time.  “In addition, keep basements and attics well ventilated and dry to prevent moisture buildup,” he says.

Remove clutter and debris

Try to keep your belongings off the floor. Image: Garage Guru

Robert Taylor is the owner of The Real Estate Solutions Guy in Sacramento, CA. The company specializes in remodeling run-down homes, and Taylor says they see a lot of home and estates that have problems with mice and other rodents. “One cause of this an abundance of clutter lying around the house and against the house where rodents can hide – and this can be clutter in the garage, in rooms in the house or even outside against the house,” Taylor explains.

“Animals need a safe place to hide from predators, whether this be your household pets or other animals,” Taylor says. He adds that clutter creates a place to hide and a place to nest, and recommends removing clutter to help remove rodent problems.

Gretchen White, M.S., Animal Nuisance Biologist at Scotts Miracle-Gro has a few additional tips. “Store materials off the floors on shelves, wherever possible, in rodent-proof containers,” White says. “Use rodent-proof storage bins and prevent access to paper and fabric that could be used as nesting material.”

Don’t lend a helping hand

Don’t store firewood next to your house. Image: Dean Herald-Rolling Stone Landscapes

You should keep the exterior walls of your home clean for aesthetic reasons. But according to Taylor, this will also reduce the probability of subterranean termites finding a way into your home. “And, if you live in an area that uses firewood, be sure not to keep the firewood stacked against your house,” Taylor advises.

Sydney Crawley, Ph.D., Public Health Entomologist, Scotts Miracle-Gro, agrees. “ If you must stack firewood, keep stacks elevated and store more than 20 feet away from the home — Do not stack firewood directly against your home’s exterior,” Crawley warns.

Also, if you have a compost site/yard waste, she recommends monitoring it regularly to prevent insect breeding.

Tame the landscape

Keep trees and bushes from touching your house. Image: Minnetonka Custom Homes

Another way you can avoid lending a helping hand to pests is by maintaining your landscape. “Trees should be pruned back at least five feet from the roof to prevent access to your house from rodents,” Taylor advises. “Ivy and other vine type plants also need to be trimmed back so that they don’t create a pathway to your roof or the vents in your eaves” he says.

In fact, Ramsey says there should be a 12-18 inch buffer around the home so stop pests from entering your home through surrounding plants. “Look around your home for pest-attractive plants; ladybugs feed on other insects that drink plant juices; boxelder bugs and stink bugs feed on the plants themselves,” Ramsey explains.

Seal any holes

Check for gaps around pipes. Image: Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove

Homeowners use air vents so the house can breathe. However, if they contain holes, Taylor recommends replacing them. “Even the smallest of holes can allow a mouse or other rodent access into your home.” He also recommends looking for openings inside the house. “Look behind your stove where the electrical or gas may come out of the wall, look underneath your sinks where the plumbing comes out of the wall.” If there is an excessive amount of space where the pipes enter the wall, he says this will allow rodents to enter your home. “Mice may find a way into your walls, but that doesn’t mean you need to let them find a way into your house through these gaps,” Taylor says. “Have the gaps sealed tight with metal flanges that you can buy from your local hardware store, or sealed off properly by a skilled handyman.”

Dr. Fredericks says you can also seal exterior cracks and crevices with caulk and steel wool. “Install door sweeps and repair damaged screens, as torn window screens and cracks under doors are ideal entry points for pests.” He also says that it’s possible for you to bring pests in the house yourself. “Inspect items like boxed deliveries and grocery bags before bringing them inside,” Dr. Fredericks says.

Remove offenders

As a last resort, set traps to catch pests. Image: Euroline Steel Windows

Despite your best efforts, especially if you live in one of Orkin’s Rattiest Cities, it’s possible that pests may find a way into your home. “Some areas are just more prone to repeated rodent problems, like those close to wooded areas or located in urban centers,”  White explains. “To help control rodents around the outside perimeter of your home, place bait stations approved for outdoor use, like the Tomcat Rat & Mouse Killer Child & Dog Resistant, Disposable Station or Tomcat Mouse Killer Child & Dog Resistant, Disposable Station, in areas where rodents may try to enter your home, such as doors, vents, under siding or around pipes.” Do you live in a city on Orkin’s Rattiest Cities list? What tips do you have for keeping your home pest free?

The post Do You Live in One of Orkin’s Top 50 Rattiest Cities? appeared first on Freshome.com.

Terri Williams

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Top 10 Markets With the Highest Hidden Costs of Owning a Home

avajjon/iStock; Sauliaka/iStock; realtor.com

When it’s finally time to get off the starting blocks and buy a new home, one of the first thing most folks do is … the math. How much do you need to in order to get a place—and how much do you need in order to keep it?

People tend to focus an awful lot on that towering down payment. Then they carefully calculate their closing costs and monthly mortgage payments. Maybe they’ll even factor in the cost of a plush new sofa, and a hot new SUV to park in the driveway. But before they settle into sweet domestic bliss, they really need to come to grips with something else, too: the true costs of homeownership.

Because they aren’t aways so obvious.

Property taxes, leaky roofs, home insurance, and termites — oh my. Truth be told, there are all sorts of hidden costs that could turn your bargain basement deal into a den of financial horrors. Unless, that is, you go in with eyes open wide. We’re here to help!  Our data team at realtor.com® ran the numbers to figure out the cities with the highest hidden costs of homeownership, all in the interest of helping fend off major coronary episodes once the bills come in.

Before you panic and renew your lease, remember that in most places, buying still beats renting in the long run—even with all the costs of ownership included. You’re building equity, remember?

The bottom line is: Be prepared for all the costs of ownership. Financial adviser Jenna Rogers with Mission Wealth Management often advises first-time home buyers to make a list of all the expenses that are expected for at least the first year.

“Open a new savings account, and designate it as the ‘home account,'” Rogers says. “Send the necessary amount to this home account every month. That way, when you have to pay property taxes, for example, you’ve already had the cash build up.”

Still, those costs can vary dramatically, depending on where you live. We ranked the 100 largest metropolitan areas by the following criteria:

Property tax rates

Home insurance premiums

Remodeling costs

Maintenance and repair costs

Hourly rate of housekeepers, home cleaners, gardeners, and landscapers

Pest control costs

Electricity, heating oil, and natural gas bills

Household goods, like a 40-inch flat-screen TV, laundry detergent, and toilet paper.

Hidden cost No. 1: Property taxes

Property taxes are one of the biggest home expenses you’ll have after a mortgage. Long-time homeowners have gotten used to this harsh reality, but newbie homeowners could be surprised to discover just how costly their tax bills can be, especially in the Northeast.

And sometimes, property taxes can seem surprisingly high. Homeowners in the Buffalo, NY, metro area, which covers the upstate counties of Erie and Niagara, pay a whopping 2.9% of their home’s value in tax. Rochester, Buffalo’s next-door neighbor, has a 2.8% rate on average.

Despite their top-ranking property tax rates, though, those cities did not make our overall top 10 list, because their cost of living is otherwise pretty low.

So what determines the home tax rate in a given area? They’re set and collected by state, county, or municipal agencies—in fact, multiple agencies often tax the same property. They’re tied to home values in an area, and used to pay for services, such as schools, and fire and police departments. That’s why they can be tough to predict. For example, some cash-strapped cities will charge a higher rate in order to fund better services.

And sometimes, they’re just indicators of ultra-expensive markets. Property taxes are particularly high in the New York metropolitan statistical area, which spans New York City, as well as Jersey City and Newark in New Jersey. Homeowners there pay an average of $7,300* in property tax, roughly 2% of their home’s value. (Metropolitan statistical areas, as defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget, are highly populated areas made up of one or more city cores, surrounded by suburban and rural communities that share economic ties.)

That’s way over the national average of just over $2,100, according to the Census Bureau.

This is where the equation gets simpler: “In states where you have wealthier people with more expensive homes, that tends to drive property taxes higher,” says John Buhl, spokesperson for the Tax Foundation, a Washington, DC-based think tank.

The heavy tax burden is among the leading reasons that taxpayers are fleeing New York—the state is losing more residents than any other, according to a study by newgeography.com.

Connecticut also has two metros that made our top 10, mostly because of high tax rates. Homeowners in metro Bridgeport pay 1.7% of their home’s value in tax, and those in metro New Haven pay 2.1%. Because the Bridgeport metro area stretches into wealthy Fairfield County enclaves like New Canaan and Greenwich—where hedge-fund managers and CEOs drop millions on real estate—the area has an average property tax bill of nearly $7,000 a year.

Texas, with its sprawling properties and famously affordable real estate, has surprisingly expensive property taxes. The Lone State doesn’t collect income taxes, meaning that the government relies more heavily on property taxes to fund agencies and services. The tax rate in Houston is 1.8%.

Hidden cost No. 2: Home insurance Skip the flood insurance, and you could be looking at a deluge of expenses.

EEI_Tony/iStock

Even if you’re a gambler at heart, home insurance is indispensable when it comes to protecting major assets. And they don’t get much larger than a home. For those who take out a mortgage, it’s required by the lender. For everyone else, insurance is highly recommended—who wants to risk a six-digit loss? Because stuff happens.

Florida, with a long coastline that bears the brunt of hurricanes and tropical storms, has the country’s highest average home insurance cost, at $298** per month. That’s nearly three times the national average of $102, according to Insurance.com. The pricey premiums add to the financial burdens of homeowners in Cape Coral and Miami, which both rank high on the list.

Insurance also takes a big bite out of the paychecks of New Orleans homeowners. Think two names: Katrina and Rita. After those hurricanes, not being able to find affordable insurance has become a hurdle for home buyers, especially first-timers. Why do they call this place the Big Easy again?

“In high flood-risk neighborhoods, the insurance is so expensive that it’s nearly impossible for a young couple to buy,” says Richard Jeansonne, a broker at French Quarter Realty in New Orleans. “With mortgage, flood insurance, and other expenses, it’s just not something they can afford.”

Because the cost of flood insurance is based on on the elevation of the house, buying a home on higher ground reduces the premium. Homes along the Mississippi River, like in the French Quarter and Uptown neighborhoods, are built on an elevated riverbank and are therefore cheaper to insure.

Everything’s bigger in Texas—and so are insurance premiums. After all, Texas residents are susceptible to a myriad of perils, from hailstorms to tornadoes to wildfires to floods. All the risks amount to an average of $162 in home insurance every month. Ouch!

In disaster-prone areas, homeowners could get a discount on insurance for securing the foundation and installing a metal roof, according to Insurance Council of Texas spokesman Mark Hanna. A good security system and close proximity to highly rated fire departments also reduce the premium. And maintaining a high credit score can lower your insurance rates too—sort of a housing win-win.

Hidden cost No. 3: Maintenance and remodeling Need a new roof? It’ll cost ya.

tinabelle/iStock

One of the biggest fears of cash-strapped homeowners everywhere: an issue they might not have noticed, like a leaky roof or cracked foundation, will snowball into a catastrophe, and cost a fortune to repair.

No wonder conventional real estate wisdom (CREW) dictates that you should set aside 1% of your home’s value for maintenance each year. But the real amount depends on the condition and location of your home. Repairs to storm-beaten New Orleans homes cost $31,650 on average, among the highest in our study.

In addition to repairs, homeowners need to continue investing in their homes to maintain—or better yet, increase—valuations. That’s why American homeowners are shelling out more and more on improvements. In 2016, they spent $361 billion, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. That’s up 13.5% from the previous peak in 2007.

Serious renovation, of course, goes way beyond picking out curtain patterns in Home Depot. A standard kitchen remodel project costs around $21,680 nationally, and even repainting a home’s interior costs around $1,700, according to HomeAdvisor’s True Cost Guide. And the number goes up exponentially where labor and material costs are high. In Los Angeles, the average cost of kitchen renovation is $31,177.

“When the house price is higher on average, it feels more justifiable to spend more on the house itself,” says Brad Hunter, HomeAdvisor chief economist. “Somebody in Los Angeles and San Francisco is going to be willing to pay a lot more on a kitchen than, say, Provo, Utah.”

Hidden cost No. 4: Utility bills

Homeowners can’t forget those bills for water, power, and trash that arrive each month. If you’re moving from an apartment to a home for the first time, know that the increase in square footage can pack a real punch, in a bigger utility bill.

Connecticut homeowners spend the most on heating oil, at $104 a month, according to a WalletHub analysis. In the Bridgeport metro, heating oil plus natural gas and electricity totals $309 a month, the highest in our study.

Florida’s sunny climate means that residents aren’t likely to have high heating bills. But the summer heat and humidity means that Floridians are likely to be cranking those air conditioners. Homeowners in Cape Coral pay some of the country’s highest electricity bills, at $216 a month. Not too far away, in Miami, they pay $184 a month for electricity.

In Hawaii, electricity is produced by petroleum-fired power plants. As you might imagine, petroleum must be shipped onto the islands, adding to the cost of production—and utility bills. Frugal homeowners usually install solar panels. This helps to cut down on their electricity bills, which average $172 a month in Honolulu.

Hidden cost No. 5: Domestic labor Those windows won’t wash themselves…

Bill Oxford/iStock

After a few months lugging canister vacuums up and down two flights of stairs, you may finally give up and decide to hire someone to maintain your sanity. But don’t underestimate the price of this peace of mind.

The average rate of a housekeeper is $12.50 an hour across the country, according to Care.com, an online marketplace for housekeepers and care providers. If you hire a housekeeper for three hours every month, that adds up to $450 a year.

Depending on where you live, the rate could also go up considerably—to $15 an hour or above in New York, America’s most expensive city.

Dealing with pests like mice, termites, cockroaches, and bedbugs costs $178 on average, according to HomeAdvisor. In Honolulu, the cost goes up to almost $300. The cost of living in paradise vermin-free is steep.

Mowing the lawns and blowing leaves are traditionally DIY projects, but they’re easy ones to neglect. Before you know it, your nosy neighbor has already blabbed to the neighborhood association, and fines are accruing. Bummer! The cost of outsourcing varies, depending on lawn size and the extent of the work. On average, homeowners spend about $156 on lawn services, according to HomeAdvisor.

Does it make sense to shell out for such upkeep? Says financial adviser Rogers, “It’s really all a matter of budgeting, and finding out what’s most important to you.”

* Property tax rates are calculated using the U.S. Census Bureau’s median tax and median home value. For every metro area, tax rates are the average of all counties within the metro boundary. The boundary is defined by the Office of Management and Budget. 

** Average cost of insurance refers to policies on a $200,000 home with a $1,000 deductible and a $100,000 liability.

The post Top 10 Markets With the Highest Hidden Costs of Owning a Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2sHMBzr

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Top 10 Markets With the Highest Hidden Costs of Owning a Home

avajjon/iStock; Sauliaka/iStock; realtor.com

When it’s finally time to get off the starting blocks and buy a new home, one of the first thing most folks do is … the math. How much do you need to in order to get a place—and how much do you need in order to keep it?

People tend to focus an awful lot on that towering down payment. Then they carefully calculate their closing costs and monthly mortgage payments. Maybe they’ll even factor in the cost of a plush new sofa, and a hot new SUV to park in the driveway. But before they settle into sweet domestic bliss, they really need to come to grips with something else, too: the true costs of homeownership.

Because they aren’t aways so obvious.

Property taxes, leaky roofs, home insurance, and termites — oh my. Truth be told, there are all sorts of hidden costs that could turn your bargain basement deal into a den of financial horrors. Unless, that is, you go in with eyes open wide. We’re here to help!  Our data team at realtor.com® ran the numbers to figure out the cities with the highest hidden costs of homeownership, all in the interest of helping fend off major coronary episodes once the bills come in.

Before you panic and renew your lease, remember that in most places, buying still beats renting in the long run—even with all the costs of ownership included. You’re building equity, remember?

The bottom line is: Be prepared for all the costs of ownership. Financial adviser Jenna Rogers with Mission Wealth Management often advises first-time home buyers to make a list of all the expenses that are expected for at least the first year.

“Open a new savings account, and designate it as the ‘home account,'” Rogers says. “Send the necessary amount to this home account every month. That way, when you have to pay property taxes, for example, you’ve already had the cash build up.”

Still, those costs can vary dramatically, depending on where you live. We ranked the 100 largest metropolitan areas by the following criteria:

Property tax rates

Home insurance premiums

Remodeling costs

Maintenance and repair costs

Hourly rate of housekeepers, home cleaners, gardeners, and landscapers

Pest control costs

Electricity, heating oil, and natural gas bills

Household goods, like a 40-inch flat-screen TV, laundry detergent, and toilet paper.

Hidden cost No. 1: Property taxes

Property taxes are one of the biggest home expenses you’ll have after a mortgage. Long-time homeowners have gotten used to this harsh reality, but newbie homeowners could be surprised to discover just how costly their tax bills can be, especially in the Northeast.

And sometimes, property taxes can seem surprisingly high. Homeowners in the Buffalo, NY, metro area, which covers the upstate counties of Erie and Niagara, pay a whopping 2.9% of their home’s value in tax. Rochester, Buffalo’s next-door neighbor, has a 2.8% rate on average.

Despite their top-ranking property tax rates, though, those cities did not make our overall top 10 list, because their cost of living is otherwise pretty low.

So what determines the home tax rate in a given area? They’re set and collected by state, county, or municipal agencies—in fact, multiple agencies often tax the same property. They’re tied to home values in an area, and used to pay for services, such as schools, and fire and police departments. That’s why they can be tough to predict. For example, some cash-strapped cities will charge a higher rate in order to fund better services.

And sometimes, they’re just indicators of ultra-expensive markets. Property taxes are particularly high in the New York metropolitan statistical area, which spans New York City, as well as Jersey City and Newark in New Jersey. Homeowners there pay an average of $7,300* in property tax, roughly 2% of their home’s value. (Metropolitan statistical areas, as defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget, are highly populated areas made up of one or more city cores, surrounded by suburban and rural communities that share economic ties.)

That’s way over the national average of just over $2,100, according to the Census Bureau.

This is where the equation gets simpler: “In states where you have wealthier people with more expensive homes, that tends to drive property taxes higher,” says John Buhl, spokesperson for the Tax Foundation, a Washington, DC-based think tank.

The heavy tax burden is among the leading reasons that taxpayers are fleeing New York—the state is losing more residents than any other, according to a study by newgeography.com.

Connecticut also has two metros that made our top 10, mostly because of high tax rates. Homeowners in metro Bridgeport pay 1.7% of their home’s value in tax, and those in metro New Haven pay 2.1%. Because the Bridgeport metro area stretches into wealthy Fairfield County enclaves like New Canaan and Greenwich—where hedge-fund managers and CEOs drop millions on real estate—the area has an average property tax bill of nearly $7,000 a year.

Texas, with its sprawling properties and famously affordable real estate, has surprisingly expensive property taxes. The Lone State doesn’t collect income taxes, meaning that the government relies more heavily on property taxes to fund agencies and services. The tax rate in Houston is 1.8%.

Hidden cost No. 2: Home insurance Skip the flood insurance, and you could be looking at a deluge of expenses.

EEI_Tony/iStock

Even if you’re a gambler at heart, home insurance is indispensable when it comes to protecting major assets. And they don’t get much larger than a home. For those who take out a mortgage, it’s required by the lender. For everyone else, insurance is highly recommended—who wants to risk a six-digit loss? Because stuff happens.

Florida, with a long coastline that bears the brunt of hurricanes and tropical storms, has the country’s highest average home insurance cost, at $298** per month. That’s nearly three times the national average of $102, according to Insurance.com. The pricey premiums add to the financial burdens of homeowners in Cape Coral and Miami, which both rank high on the list.

Insurance also takes a big bite out of the paychecks of New Orleans homeowners. Think two names: Katrina and Rita. After those hurricanes, not being able to find affordable insurance has become a hurdle for home buyers, especially first-timers. Why do they call this place the Big Easy again?

“In high flood-risk neighborhoods, the insurance is so expensive that it’s nearly impossible for a young couple to buy,” says Richard Jeansonne, a broker at French Quarter Realty in New Orleans. “With mortgage, flood insurance, and other expenses, it’s just not something they can afford.”

Because the cost of flood insurance is based on on the elevation of the house, buying a home on higher ground reduces the premium. Homes along the Mississippi River, like in the French Quarter and Uptown neighborhoods, are built on an elevated riverbank and are therefore cheaper to insure.

Everything’s bigger in Texas—and so are insurance premiums. After all, Texas residents are susceptible to a myriad of perils, from hailstorms to tornadoes to wildfires to floods. All the risks amount to an average of $162 in home insurance every month. Ouch!

In disaster-prone areas, homeowners could get a discount on insurance for securing the foundation and installing a metal roof, according to Insurance Council of Texas spokesman Mark Hanna. A good security system and close proximity to highly rated fire departments also reduce the premium. And maintaining a high credit score can lower your insurance rates too—sort of a housing win-win.

Hidden cost No. 3: Maintenance and remodeling Need a new roof? It’ll cost ya.

tinabelle/iStock

One of the biggest fears of cash-strapped homeowners everywhere: an issue they might not have noticed, like a leaky roof or cracked foundation, will snowball into a catastrophe, and cost a fortune to repair.

No wonder conventional real estate wisdom (CREW) dictates that you should set aside 1% of your home’s value for maintenance each year. But the real amount depends on the condition and location of your home. Repairs to storm-beaten New Orleans homes cost $31,650 on average, among the highest in our study.

In addition to repairs, homeowners need to continue investing in their homes to maintain—or better yet, increase—valuations. That’s why American homeowners are shelling out more and more on improvements. In 2016, they spent $361 billion, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. That’s up 13.5% from the previous peak in 2007.

Serious renovation, of course, goes way beyond picking out curtain patterns in Home Depot. A standard kitchen remodel project costs around $21,680 nationally, and even repainting a home’s interior costs around $1,700, according to HomeAdvisor’s True Cost Guide. And the number goes up exponentially where labor and material costs are high. In Los Angeles, the average cost of kitchen renovation is $31,177.

“When the house price is higher on average, it feels more justifiable to spend more on the house itself,” says Brad Hunter, HomeAdvisor chief economist. “Somebody in Los Angeles and San Francisco is going to be willing to pay a lot more on a kitchen than, say, Provo, Utah.”

Hidden cost No. 4: Utility bills

Homeowners can’t forget those bills for water, power, and trash that arrive each month. If you’re moving from an apartment to a home for the first time, know that the increase in square footage can pack a real punch, in a bigger utility bill.

Connecticut homeowners spend the most on heating oil, at $104 a month, according to a WalletHub analysis. In the Bridgeport metro, heating oil plus natural gas and electricity totals $309 a month, the highest in our study.

Florida’s sunny climate means that residents aren’t likely to have high heating bills. But the summer heat and humidity means that Floridians are likely to be cranking those air conditioners. Homeowners in Cape Coral pay some of the country’s highest electricity bills, at $216 a month. Not too far away, in Miami, they pay $184 a month for electricity.

In Hawaii, electricity is produced by petroleum-fired power plants. As you might imagine, petroleum must be shipped onto the islands, adding to the cost of production—and utility bills. Frugal homeowners usually install solar panels. This helps to cut down on their electricity bills, which average $172 a month in Honolulu.

Hidden cost No. 5: Domestic labor Those windows won’t wash themselves…

Bill Oxford/iStock

After a few months lugging canister vacuums up and down two flights of stairs, you may finally give up and decide to hire someone to maintain your sanity. But don’t underestimate the price of this peace of mind.

The average rate of a housekeeper is $12.50 an hour across the country, according to Care.com, an online marketplace for housekeepers and care providers. If you hire a housekeeper for three hours every month, that adds up to $450 a year.

Depending on where you live, the rate could also go up considerably—to $15 an hour or above in New York, America’s most expensive city.

Dealing with pests like mice, termites, cockroaches, and bedbugs costs $178 on average, according to HomeAdvisor. In Honolulu, the cost goes up to almost $300. The cost of living in paradise vermin-free is steep.

Mowing the lawns and blowing leaves are traditionally DIY projects, but they’re easy ones to neglect. Before you know it, your nosy neighbor has already blabbed to the neighborhood association, and fines are accruing. Bummer! The cost of outsourcing varies, depending on lawn size and the extent of the work. On average, homeowners spend about $156 on lawn services, according to HomeAdvisor.

Does it make sense to shell out for such upkeep? Says financial adviser Rogers, “It’s really all a matter of budgeting, and finding out what’s most important to you.”

* Property tax rates are calculated using the U.S. Census Bureau’s median tax and median home value. For every metro area, tax rates are the average of all counties within the metro boundary. The boundary is defined by the Office of Management and Budget. 

** Average cost of insurance refers to policies on a $200,000 home with a $1,000 deductible and a $100,000 liability.

The post Top 10 Markets With the Highest Hidden Costs of Owning a Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2sHMBzr

[townandcountrysolutions]

How to Use Mosquito Controlling Methods and Repellent in Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo

Controlling mosquitoes in Rochester, or any area, involves a combination of preventative measures, mosquito repellents, and, if necessary, targeted mosquito control methods. We deeply look into some tips to help you control mosquitoes effectively:

Eliminate Standing Water: Mosquitoes breed in stagnant water. Regularly inspect your property for any standing water in containers, gutters, flower pots, or bird baths. Empty or treat these areas to prevent mosquito breeding.

Install Screens: Ensure that windows and doors have screens to keep mosquitoes out. Repair any damaged screens to prevent mosquitoes from entering your home.

Use Mosquito Repellents: Apply EPA-approved mosquito repellents on exposed skin when outdoors. Common active ingredients include DEET, picaridin, and oil of lemon eucalyptus. Follow the product instructions for application.

Wear Protective Clothing: Wear long sleeves, long pants, and socks when outdoors, especially during peak mosquito activity times, which are usually dawn and dusk.

Mosquito-Proof Your Home: Keep doors and windows closed during peak mosquito times, or use screens to keep them out. Consider using bed nets treated with insect repellent, especially if you're in an area with a high risk of mosquito-borne diseases.

Natural Repellents: Essential oils like citronella, eucalyptus, and lavender can act as natural mosquito repellents. Use candles, diffusers, or apply diluted oils to skin or clothing.

Mosquito Traps: Consider using mosquito traps that emit carbon dioxide or use UV light to attract and capture mosquitoes. These can be effective for reducing mosquito populations in specific areas.

Professional Mosquito Control: If mosquito infestations persist, consider professional mosquito control services - Town and Country Pest Control Rochester, Syracuse, and Buffalo. They may use techniques such as larviciding, which targets mosquito larvae, or adulticiding to control adult mosquitoes.

Community Efforts: Encourage your community to collectively address mosquito control. Emptying standing water, maintaining community spaces, and practicing good mosquito prevention can have a broader impact.

Remember to stay informed about local mosquito-borne diseases and follow any guidelines provided by health authorities. Combining multiple strategies and staying proactive will help create a more effective mosquito control plan in Rochester or any other location.

[gillespialfredoe01806ld]

Top 10 Markets With the Highest Hidden Costs of Owning a Home

avajjon/iStock; Sauliaka/iStock; realtor.com

When it’s finally time to get off the starting blocks and buy a new home, one of the first thing most folks do is … the math. How much do you need to in order to get a place—and how much do you need in order to keep it?

People tend to focus an awful lot on that towering down payment. Then they carefully calculate their closing costs and monthly mortgage payments. Maybe they’ll even factor in the cost of a plush new sofa, and a hot new SUV to park in the driveway. But before they settle into sweet domestic bliss, they really need to come to grips with something else, too: the true costs of homeownership.

Because they aren’t aways so obvious.

Property taxes, leaky roofs, home insurance, and termites — oh my. Truth be told, there are all sorts of hidden costs that could turn your bargain basement deal into a den of financial horrors. Unless, that is, you go in with eyes open wide. We’re here to help!  Our data team at realtor.com® ran the numbers to figure out the cities with the highest hidden costs of homeownership, all in the interest of helping fend off major coronary episodes once the bills come in.

Before you panic and renew your lease, remember that in most places, buying still beats renting in the long run—even with all the costs of ownership included. You’re building equity, remember?

The bottom line is: Be prepared for all the costs of ownership. Financial adviser Jenna Rogers with Mission Wealth Management often advises first-time home buyers to make a list of all the expenses that are expected for at least the first year.

“Open a new savings account, and designate it as the ‘home account,'” Rogers says. “Send the necessary amount to this home account every month. That way, when you have to pay property taxes, for example, you’ve already had the cash build up.”

Still, those costs can vary dramatically, depending on where you live. We ranked the 100 largest metropolitan areas by the following criteria:

Property tax rates

Home insurance premiums

Remodeling costs

Maintenance and repair costs

Hourly rate of housekeepers, home cleaners, gardeners, and landscapers

Pest control costs

Electricity, heating oil, and natural gas bills

Household goods, like a 40-inch flat-screen TV, laundry detergent, and toilet paper.

Hidden cost No. 1: Property taxes

Property taxes are one of the biggest home expenses you’ll have after a mortgage. Long-time homeowners have gotten used to this harsh reality, but newbie homeowners could be surprised to discover just how costly their tax bills can be, especially in the Northeast.

And sometimes, property taxes can seem surprisingly high. Homeowners in the Buffalo, NY, metro area, which covers the upstate counties of Erie and Niagara, pay a whopping 2.9% of their home’s value in tax. Rochester, Buffalo’s next-door neighbor, has a 2.8% rate on average.

Despite their top-ranking property tax rates, though, those cities did not make our overall top 10 list, because their cost of living is otherwise pretty low.

So what determines the home tax rate in a given area? They’re set and collected by state, county, or municipal agencies—in fact, multiple agencies often tax the same property. They’re tied to home values in an area, and used to pay for services, such as schools, and fire and police departments. That’s why they can be tough to predict. For example, some cash-strapped cities will charge a higher rate in order to fund better services.

And sometimes, they’re just indicators of ultra-expensive markets. Property taxes are particularly high in the New York metropolitan statistical area, which spans New York City, as well as Jersey City and Newark in New Jersey. Homeowners there pay an average of $7,300* in property tax, roughly 2% of their home’s value. (Metropolitan statistical areas, as defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget, are highly populated areas made up of one or more city cores, surrounded by suburban and rural communities that share economic ties.)

That’s way over the national average of just over $2,100, according to the Census Bureau.

This is where the equation gets simpler: “In states where you have wealthier people with more expensive homes, that tends to drive property taxes higher,” says John Buhl, spokesperson for the Tax Foundation, a Washington, DC-based think tank.

The heavy tax burden is among the leading reasons that taxpayers are fleeing New York—the state is losing more residents than any other, according to a study by newgeography.com.

Connecticut also has two metros that made our top 10, mostly because of high tax rates. Homeowners in metro Bridgeport pay 1.7% of their home’s value in tax, and those in metro New Haven pay 2.1%. Because the Bridgeport metro area stretches into wealthy Fairfield County enclaves like New Canaan and Greenwich—where hedge-fund managers and CEOs drop millions on real estate—the area has an average property tax bill of nearly $7,000 a year.

Texas, with its sprawling properties and famously affordable real estate, has surprisingly expensive property taxes. The Lone State doesn’t collect income taxes, meaning that the government relies more heavily on property taxes to fund agencies and services. The tax rate in Houston is 1.8%.

Hidden cost No. 2: Home insurance Skip the flood insurance, and you could be looking at a deluge of expenses.

EEI_Tony/iStock

Even if you’re a gambler at heart, home insurance is indispensable when it comes to protecting major assets. And they don’t get much larger than a home. For those who take out a mortgage, it’s required by the lender. For everyone else, insurance is highly recommended—who wants to risk a six-digit loss? Because stuff happens.

Florida, with a long coastline that bears the brunt of hurricanes and tropical storms, has the country’s highest average home insurance cost, at $298** per month. That’s nearly three times the national average of $102, according to Insurance.com. The pricey premiums add to the financial burdens of homeowners in Cape Coral and Miami, which both rank high on the list.

Insurance also takes a big bite out of the paychecks of New Orleans homeowners. Think two names: Katrina and Rita. After those hurricanes, not being able to find affordable insurance has become a hurdle for home buyers, especially first-timers. Why do they call this place the Big Easy again?

“In high flood-risk neighborhoods, the insurance is so expensive that it’s nearly impossible for a young couple to buy,” says Richard Jeansonne, a broker at French Quarter Realty in New Orleans. “With mortgage, flood insurance, and other expenses, it’s just not something they can afford.”

Because the cost of flood insurance is based on on the elevation of the house, buying a home on higher ground reduces the premium. Homes along the Mississippi River, like in the French Quarter and Uptown neighborhoods, are built on an elevated riverbank and are therefore cheaper to insure.

Everything’s bigger in Texas—and so are insurance premiums. After all, Texas residents are susceptible to a myriad of perils, from hailstorms to tornadoes to wildfires to floods. All the risks amount to an average of $162 in home insurance every month. Ouch!

In disaster-prone areas, homeowners could get a discount on insurance for securing the foundation and installing a metal roof, according to Insurance Council of Texas spokesman Mark Hanna. A good security system and close proximity to highly rated fire departments also reduce the premium. And maintaining a high credit score can lower your insurance rates too—sort of a housing win-win.

Hidden cost No. 3: Maintenance and remodeling Need a new roof? It’ll cost ya.

tinabelle/iStock

One of the biggest fears of cash-strapped homeowners everywhere: an issue they might not have noticed, like a leaky roof or cracked foundation, will snowball into a catastrophe, and cost a fortune to repair.

No wonder conventional real estate wisdom (CREW) dictates that you should set aside 1% of your home’s value for maintenance each year. But the real amount depends on the condition and location of your home. Repairs to storm-beaten New Orleans homes cost $31,650 on average, among the highest in our study.

In addition to repairs, homeowners need to continue investing in their homes to maintain—or better yet, increase—valuations. That’s why American homeowners are shelling out more and more on improvements. In 2016, they spent $361 billion, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. That’s up 13.5% from the previous peak in 2007.

Serious renovation, of course, goes way beyond picking out curtain patterns in Home Depot. A standard kitchen remodel project costs around $21,680 nationally, and even repainting a home’s interior costs around $1,700, according to HomeAdvisor’s True Cost Guide. And the number goes up exponentially where labor and material costs are high. In Los Angeles, the average cost of kitchen renovation is $31,177.

“When the house price is higher on average, it feels more justifiable to spend more on the house itself,” says Brad Hunter, HomeAdvisor chief economist. “Somebody in Los Angeles and San Francisco is going to be willing to pay a lot more on a kitchen than, say, Provo, Utah.”

Hidden cost No. 4: Utility bills

Homeowners can’t forget those bills for water, power, and trash that arrive each month. If you’re moving from an apartment to a home for the first time, know that the increase in square footage can pack a real punch, in a bigger utility bill.

Connecticut homeowners spend the most on heating oil, at $104 a month, according to a WalletHub analysis. In the Bridgeport metro, heating oil plus natural gas and electricity totals $309 a month, the highest in our study.

Florida’s sunny climate means that residents aren’t likely to have high heating bills. But the summer heat and humidity means that Floridians are likely to be cranking those air conditioners. Homeowners in Cape Coral pay some of the country’s highest electricity bills, at $216 a month. Not too far away, in Miami, they pay $184 a month for electricity.

In Hawaii, electricity is produced by petroleum-fired power plants. As you might imagine, petroleum must be shipped onto the islands, adding to the cost of production—and utility bills. Frugal homeowners usually install solar panels. This helps to cut down on their electricity bills, which average $172 a month in Honolulu.

Hidden cost No. 5: Domestic labor Those windows won’t wash themselves…

Bill Oxford/iStock

After a few months lugging canister vacuums up and down two flights of stairs, you may finally give up and decide to hire someone to maintain your sanity. But don’t underestimate the price of this peace of mind.

The average rate of a housekeeper is $12.50 an hour across the country, according to Care.com, an online marketplace for housekeepers and care providers. If you hire a housekeeper for three hours every month, that adds up to $450 a year.

Depending on where you live, the rate could also go up considerably—to $15 an hour or above in New York, America’s most expensive city.

Dealing with pests like mice, termites, cockroaches, and bedbugs costs $178 on average, according to HomeAdvisor. In Honolulu, the cost goes up to almost $300. The cost of living in paradise vermin-free is steep.

Mowing the lawns and blowing leaves are traditionally DIY projects, but they’re easy ones to neglect. Before you know it, your nosy neighbor has already blabbed to the neighborhood association, and fines are accruing. Bummer! The cost of outsourcing varies, depending on lawn size and the extent of the work. On average, homeowners spend about $156 on lawn services, according to HomeAdvisor.

Does it make sense to shell out for such upkeep? Says financial adviser Rogers, “It’s really all a matter of budgeting, and finding out what’s most important to you.”

* Property tax rates are calculated using the U.S. Census Bureau’s median tax and median home value. For every metro area, tax rates are the average of all counties within the metro boundary. The boundary is defined by the Office of Management and Budget. 

** Average cost of insurance refers to policies on a $200,000 home with a $1,000 deductible and a $100,000 liability.

The post Top 10 Markets With the Highest Hidden Costs of Owning a Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2sHMBzr

[porchenclose10019]

Top 10 Markets With the Highest Hidden Costs of Owning a Home

avajjon/iStock; Sauliaka/iStock; realtor.com

When it’s finally time to get off the starting blocks and buy a new home, one of the first thing most folks do is … the math. How much do you need to in order to get a place—and how much do you need in order to keep it?

People tend to focus an awful lot on that towering down payment. Then they carefully calculate their closing costs and monthly mortgage payments. Maybe they’ll even factor in the cost of a plush new sofa, and a hot new SUV to park in the driveway. But before they settle into sweet domestic bliss, they really need to come to grips with something else, too: the true costs of homeownership.

Because they aren’t aways so obvious.

Property taxes, leaky roofs, home insurance, and termites — oh my. Truth be told, there are all sorts of hidden costs that could turn your bargain basement deal into a den of financial horrors. Unless, that is, you go in with eyes open wide. We’re here to help!  Our data team at realtor.com® ran the numbers to figure out the cities with the highest hidden costs of homeownership, all in the interest of helping fend off major coronary episodes once the bills come in.

Before you panic and renew your lease, remember that in most places, buying still beats renting in the long run—even with all the costs of ownership included. You’re building equity, remember?

The bottom line is: Be prepared for all the costs of ownership. Financial adviser Jenna Rogers with Mission Wealth Management often advises first-time home buyers to make a list of all the expenses that are expected for at least the first year.

“Open a new savings account, and designate it as the ‘home account,'” Rogers says. “Send the necessary amount to this home account every month. That way, when you have to pay property taxes, for example, you’ve already had the cash build up.”

Still, those costs can vary dramatically, depending on where you live. We ranked the 100 largest metropolitan areas by the following criteria:

Property tax rates

Home insurance premiums

Remodeling costs

Maintenance and repair costs

Hourly rate of housekeepers, home cleaners, gardeners, and landscapers

Pest control costs

Electricity, heating oil, and natural gas bills

Household goods, like a 40-inch flat-screen TV, laundry detergent, and toilet paper.

Hidden cost No. 1: Property taxes

Property taxes are one of the biggest home expenses you’ll have after a mortgage. Long-time homeowners have gotten used to this harsh reality, but newbie homeowners could be surprised to discover just how costly their tax bills can be, especially in the Northeast.

And sometimes, property taxes can seem surprisingly high. Homeowners in the Buffalo, NY, metro area, which covers the upstate counties of Erie and Niagara, pay a whopping 2.9% of their home’s value in tax. Rochester, Buffalo’s next-door neighbor, has a 2.8% rate on average.

Despite their top-ranking property tax rates, though, those cities did not make our overall top 10 list, because their cost of living is otherwise pretty low.

So what determines the home tax rate in a given area? They’re set and collected by state, county, or municipal agencies—in fact, multiple agencies often tax the same property. They’re tied to home values in an area, and used to pay for services, such as schools, and fire and police departments. That’s why they can be tough to predict. For example, some cash-strapped cities will charge a higher rate in order to fund better services.

And sometimes, they’re just indicators of ultra-expensive markets. Property taxes are particularly high in the New York metropolitan statistical area, which spans New York City, as well as Jersey City and Newark in New Jersey. Homeowners there pay an average of $7,300* in property tax, roughly 2% of their home’s value. (Metropolitan statistical areas, as defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget, are highly populated areas made up of one or more city cores, surrounded by suburban and rural communities that share economic ties.)

That’s way over the national average of just over $2,100, according to the Census Bureau.

This is where the equation gets simpler: “In states where you have wealthier people with more expensive homes, that tends to drive property taxes higher,” says John Buhl, spokesperson for the Tax Foundation, a Washington, DC-based think tank.

The heavy tax burden is among the leading reasons that taxpayers are fleeing New York—the state is losing more residents than any other, according to a study by newgeography.com.

Connecticut also has two metros that made our top 10, mostly because of high tax rates. Homeowners in metro Bridgeport pay 1.7% of their home’s value in tax, and those in metro New Haven pay 2.1%. Because the Bridgeport metro area stretches into wealthy Fairfield County enclaves like New Canaan and Greenwich—where hedge-fund managers and CEOs drop millions on real estate—the area has an average property tax bill of nearly $7,000 a year.

Texas, with its sprawling properties and famously affordable real estate, has surprisingly expensive property taxes. The Lone State doesn’t collect income taxes, meaning that the government relies more heavily on property taxes to fund agencies and services. The tax rate in Houston is 1.8%.

Hidden cost No. 2: Home insurance Skip the flood insurance, and you could be looking at a deluge of expenses.

EEI_Tony/iStock

Even if you’re a gambler at heart, home insurance is indispensable when it comes to protecting major assets. And they don’t get much larger than a home. For those who take out a mortgage, it’s required by the lender. For everyone else, insurance is highly recommended—who wants to risk a six-digit loss? Because stuff happens.

Florida, with a long coastline that bears the brunt of hurricanes and tropical storms, has the country’s highest average home insurance cost, at $298** per month. That’s nearly three times the national average of $102, according to Insurance.com. The pricey premiums add to the financial burdens of homeowners in Cape Coral and Miami, which both rank high on the list.

Insurance also takes a big bite out of the paychecks of New Orleans homeowners. Think two names: Katrina and Rita. After those hurricanes, not being able to find affordable insurance has become a hurdle for home buyers, especially first-timers. Why do they call this place the Big Easy again?

“In high flood-risk neighborhoods, the insurance is so expensive that it’s nearly impossible for a young couple to buy,” says Richard Jeansonne, a broker at French Quarter Realty in New Orleans. “With mortgage, flood insurance, and other expenses, it’s just not something they can afford.”

Because the cost of flood insurance is based on on the elevation of the house, buying a home on higher ground reduces the premium. Homes along the Mississippi River, like in the French Quarter and Uptown neighborhoods, are built on an elevated riverbank and are therefore cheaper to insure.

Everything’s bigger in Texas—and so are insurance premiums. After all, Texas residents are susceptible to a myriad of perils, from hailstorms to tornadoes to wildfires to floods. All the risks amount to an average of $162 in home insurance every month. Ouch!

In disaster-prone areas, homeowners could get a discount on insurance for securing the foundation and installing a metal roof, according to Insurance Council of Texas spokesman Mark Hanna. A good security system and close proximity to highly rated fire departments also reduce the premium. And maintaining a high credit score can lower your insurance rates too—sort of a housing win-win.

Hidden cost No. 3: Maintenance and remodeling Need a new roof? It’ll cost ya.

tinabelle/iStock

One of the biggest fears of cash-strapped homeowners everywhere: an issue they might not have noticed, like a leaky roof or cracked foundation, will snowball into a catastrophe, and cost a fortune to repair.

No wonder conventional real estate wisdom (CREW) dictates that you should set aside 1% of your home’s value for maintenance each year. But the real amount depends on the condition and location of your home. Repairs to storm-beaten New Orleans homes cost $31,650 on average, among the highest in our study.

In addition to repairs, homeowners need to continue investing in their homes to maintain—or better yet, increase—valuations. That’s why American homeowners are shelling out more and more on improvements. In 2016, they spent $361 billion, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. That’s up 13.5% from the previous peak in 2007.

Serious renovation, of course, goes way beyond picking out curtain patterns in Home Depot. A standard kitchen remodel project costs around $21,680 nationally, and even repainting a home’s interior costs around $1,700, according to HomeAdvisor’s True Cost Guide. And the number goes up exponentially where labor and material costs are high. In Los Angeles, the average cost of kitchen renovation is $31,177.

“When the house price is higher on average, it feels more justifiable to spend more on the house itself,” says Brad Hunter, HomeAdvisor chief economist. “Somebody in Los Angeles and San Francisco is going to be willing to pay a lot more on a kitchen than, say, Provo, Utah.”

Hidden cost No. 4: Utility bills

Homeowners can’t forget those bills for water, power, and trash that arrive each month. If you’re moving from an apartment to a home for the first time, know that the increase in square footage can pack a real punch, in a bigger utility bill.

Connecticut homeowners spend the most on heating oil, at $104 a month, according to a WalletHub analysis. In the Bridgeport metro, heating oil plus natural gas and electricity totals $309 a month, the highest in our study.

Florida’s sunny climate means that residents aren’t likely to have high heating bills. But the summer heat and humidity means that Floridians are likely to be cranking those air conditioners. Homeowners in Cape Coral pay some of the country’s highest electricity bills, at $216 a month. Not too far away, in Miami, they pay $184 a month for electricity.

In Hawaii, electricity is produced by petroleum-fired power plants. As you might imagine, petroleum must be shipped onto the islands, adding to the cost of production—and utility bills. Frugal homeowners usually install solar panels. This helps to cut down on their electricity bills, which average $172 a month in Honolulu.

Hidden cost No. 5: Domestic labor Those windows won’t wash themselves…

Bill Oxford/iStock

After a few months lugging canister vacuums up and down two flights of stairs, you may finally give up and decide to hire someone to maintain your sanity. But don’t underestimate the price of this peace of mind.

The average rate of a housekeeper is $12.50 an hour across the country, according to Care.com, an online marketplace for housekeepers and care providers. If you hire a housekeeper for three hours every month, that adds up to $450 a year.

Depending on where you live, the rate could also go up considerably—to $15 an hour or above in New York, America’s most expensive city.

Dealing with pests like mice, termites, cockroaches, and bedbugs costs $178 on average, according to HomeAdvisor. In Honolulu, the cost goes up to almost $300. The cost of living in paradise vermin-free is steep.

Mowing the lawns and blowing leaves are traditionally DIY projects, but they’re easy ones to neglect. Before you know it, your nosy neighbor has already blabbed to the neighborhood association, and fines are accruing. Bummer! The cost of outsourcing varies, depending on lawn size and the extent of the work. On average, homeowners spend about $156 on lawn services, according to HomeAdvisor.

Does it make sense to shell out for such upkeep? Says financial adviser Rogers, “It’s really all a matter of budgeting, and finding out what’s most important to you.”

* Property tax rates are calculated using the U.S. Census Bureau’s median tax and median home value. For every metro area, tax rates are the average of all counties within the metro boundary. The boundary is defined by the Office of Management and Budget. 

** Average cost of insurance refers to policies on a $200,000 home with a $1,000 deductible and a $100,000 liability.

The post Top 10 Markets With the Highest Hidden Costs of Owning a Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2sHMBzr

[exfrenchdorsl4p0a1]

Top 10 Markets With the Highest Hidden Costs of Owning a Home

avajjon/iStock; Sauliaka/iStock; realtor.com

When it’s finally time to get off the starting blocks and buy a new home, one of the first thing most folks do is … the math. How much do you need to in order to get a place—and how much do you need in order to keep it?

People tend to focus an awful lot on that towering down payment. Then they carefully calculate their closing costs and monthly mortgage payments. Maybe they’ll even factor in the cost of a plush new sofa, and a hot new SUV to park in the driveway. But before they settle into sweet domestic bliss, they really need to come to grips with something else, too: the true costs of homeownership.

Because they aren’t aways so obvious.

Property taxes, leaky roofs, home insurance, and termites — oh my. Truth be told, there are all sorts of hidden costs that could turn your bargain basement deal into a den of financial horrors. Unless, that is, you go in with eyes open wide. We’re here to help!  Our data team at realtor.com® ran the numbers to figure out the cities with the highest hidden costs of homeownership, all in the interest of helping fend off major coronary episodes once the bills come in.

Before you panic and renew your lease, remember that in most places, buying still beats renting in the long run—even with all the costs of ownership included. You’re building equity, remember?

The bottom line is: Be prepared for all the costs of ownership. Financial adviser Jenna Rogers with Mission Wealth Management often advises first-time home buyers to make a list of all the expenses that are expected for at least the first year.

“Open a new savings account, and designate it as the ‘home account,'” Rogers says. “Send the necessary amount to this home account every month. That way, when you have to pay property taxes, for example, you’ve already had the cash build up.”

Still, those costs can vary dramatically, depending on where you live. We ranked the 100 largest metropolitan areas by the following criteria:

Property tax rates

Home insurance premiums

Remodeling costs

Maintenance and repair costs

Hourly rate of housekeepers, home cleaners, gardeners, and landscapers

Pest control costs

Electricity, heating oil, and natural gas bills

Household goods, like a 40-inch flat-screen TV, laundry detergent, and toilet paper.

Hidden cost No. 1: Property taxes

Property taxes are one of the biggest home expenses you’ll have after a mortgage. Long-time homeowners have gotten used to this harsh reality, but newbie homeowners could be surprised to discover just how costly their tax bills can be, especially in the Northeast.

And sometimes, property taxes can seem surprisingly high. Homeowners in the Buffalo, NY, metro area, which covers the upstate counties of Erie and Niagara, pay a whopping 2.9% of their home’s value in tax. Rochester, Buffalo’s next-door neighbor, has a 2.8% rate on average.

Despite their top-ranking property tax rates, though, those cities did not make our overall top 10 list, because their cost of living is otherwise pretty low.

So what determines the home tax rate in a given area? They’re set and collected by state, county, or municipal agencies—in fact, multiple agencies often tax the same property. They’re tied to home values in an area, and used to pay for services, such as schools, and fire and police departments. That’s why they can be tough to predict. For example, some cash-strapped cities will charge a higher rate in order to fund better services.

And sometimes, they’re just indicators of ultra-expensive markets. Property taxes are particularly high in the New York metropolitan statistical area, which spans New York City, as well as Jersey City and Newark in New Jersey. Homeowners there pay an average of $7,300* in property tax, roughly 2% of their home’s value. (Metropolitan statistical areas, as defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget, are highly populated areas made up of one or more city cores, surrounded by suburban and rural communities that share economic ties.)

That’s way over the national average of just over $2,100, according to the Census Bureau.

This is where the equation gets simpler: “In states where you have wealthier people with more expensive homes, that tends to drive property taxes higher,” says John Buhl, spokesperson for the Tax Foundation, a Washington, DC-based think tank.

The heavy tax burden is among the leading reasons that taxpayers are fleeing New York—the state is losing more residents than any other, according to a study by newgeography.com.

Connecticut also has two metros that made our top 10, mostly because of high tax rates. Homeowners in metro Bridgeport pay 1.7% of their home’s value in tax, and those in metro New Haven pay 2.1%. Because the Bridgeport metro area stretches into wealthy Fairfield County enclaves like New Canaan and Greenwich—where hedge-fund managers and CEOs drop millions on real estate—the area has an average property tax bill of nearly $7,000 a year.

Texas, with its sprawling properties and famously affordable real estate, has surprisingly expensive property taxes. The Lone State doesn’t collect income taxes, meaning that the government relies more heavily on property taxes to fund agencies and services. The tax rate in Houston is 1.8%.

Hidden cost No. 2: Home insurance Skip the flood insurance, and you could be looking at a deluge of expenses.

EEI_Tony/iStock

Even if you’re a gambler at heart, home insurance is indispensable when it comes to protecting major assets. And they don’t get much larger than a home. For those who take out a mortgage, it’s required by the lender. For everyone else, insurance is highly recommended—who wants to risk a six-digit loss? Because stuff happens.

Florida, with a long coastline that bears the brunt of hurricanes and tropical storms, has the country’s highest average home insurance cost, at $298** per month. That’s nearly three times the national average of $102, according to Insurance.com. The pricey premiums add to the financial burdens of homeowners in Cape Coral and Miami, which both rank high on the list.

Insurance also takes a big bite out of the paychecks of New Orleans homeowners. Think two names: Katrina and Rita. After those hurricanes, not being able to find affordable insurance has become a hurdle for home buyers, especially first-timers. Why do they call this place the Big Easy again?

“In high flood-risk neighborhoods, the insurance is so expensive that it’s nearly impossible for a young couple to buy,” says Richard Jeansonne, a broker at French Quarter Realty in New Orleans. “With mortgage, flood insurance, and other expenses, it’s just not something they can afford.”

Because the cost of flood insurance is based on on the elevation of the house, buying a home on higher ground reduces the premium. Homes along the Mississippi River, like in the French Quarter and Uptown neighborhoods, are built on an elevated riverbank and are therefore cheaper to insure.

Everything’s bigger in Texas—and so are insurance premiums. After all, Texas residents are susceptible to a myriad of perils, from hailstorms to tornadoes to wildfires to floods. All the risks amount to an average of $162 in home insurance every month. Ouch!

In disaster-prone areas, homeowners could get a discount on insurance for securing the foundation and installing a metal roof, according to Insurance Council of Texas spokesman Mark Hanna. A good security system and close proximity to highly rated fire departments also reduce the premium. And maintaining a high credit score can lower your insurance rates too—sort of a housing win-win.

Hidden cost No. 3: Maintenance and remodeling Need a new roof? It’ll cost ya.

tinabelle/iStock

One of the biggest fears of cash-strapped homeowners everywhere: an issue they might not have noticed, like a leaky roof or cracked foundation, will snowball into a catastrophe, and cost a fortune to repair.

No wonder conventional real estate wisdom (CREW) dictates that you should set aside 1% of your home’s value for maintenance each year. But the real amount depends on the condition and location of your home. Repairs to storm-beaten New Orleans homes cost $31,650 on average, among the highest in our study.

In addition to repairs, homeowners need to continue investing in their homes to maintain—or better yet, increase—valuations. That’s why American homeowners are shelling out more and more on improvements. In 2016, they spent $361 billion, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. That’s up 13.5% from the previous peak in 2007.

Serious renovation, of course, goes way beyond picking out curtain patterns in Home Depot. A standard kitchen remodel project costs around $21,680 nationally, and even repainting a home’s interior costs around $1,700, according to HomeAdvisor’s True Cost Guide. And the number goes up exponentially where labor and material costs are high. In Los Angeles, the average cost of kitchen renovation is $31,177.

“When the house price is higher on average, it feels more justifiable to spend more on the house itself,” says Brad Hunter, HomeAdvisor chief economist. “Somebody in Los Angeles and San Francisco is going to be willing to pay a lot more on a kitchen than, say, Provo, Utah.”

Hidden cost No. 4: Utility bills

Homeowners can’t forget those bills for water, power, and trash that arrive each month. If you’re moving from an apartment to a home for the first time, know that the increase in square footage can pack a real punch, in a bigger utility bill.

Connecticut homeowners spend the most on heating oil, at $104 a month, according to a WalletHub analysis. In the Bridgeport metro, heating oil plus natural gas and electricity totals $309 a month, the highest in our study.

Florida’s sunny climate means that residents aren’t likely to have high heating bills. But the summer heat and humidity means that Floridians are likely to be cranking those air conditioners. Homeowners in Cape Coral pay some of the country’s highest electricity bills, at $216 a month. Not too far away, in Miami, they pay $184 a month for electricity.

In Hawaii, electricity is produced by petroleum-fired power plants. As you might imagine, petroleum must be shipped onto the islands, adding to the cost of production—and utility bills. Frugal homeowners usually install solar panels. This helps to cut down on their electricity bills, which average $172 a month in Honolulu.

Hidden cost No. 5: Domestic labor Those windows won’t wash themselves…

Bill Oxford/iStock

After a few months lugging canister vacuums up and down two flights of stairs, you may finally give up and decide to hire someone to maintain your sanity. But don’t underestimate the price of this peace of mind.

The average rate of a housekeeper is $12.50 an hour across the country, according to Care.com, an online marketplace for housekeepers and care providers. If you hire a housekeeper for three hours every month, that adds up to $450 a year.

Depending on where you live, the rate could also go up considerably—to $15 an hour or above in New York, America’s most expensive city.

Dealing with pests like mice, termites, cockroaches, and bedbugs costs $178 on average, according to HomeAdvisor. In Honolulu, the cost goes up to almost $300. The cost of living in paradise vermin-free is steep.

Mowing the lawns and blowing leaves are traditionally DIY projects, but they’re easy ones to neglect. Before you know it, your nosy neighbor has already blabbed to the neighborhood association, and fines are accruing. Bummer! The cost of outsourcing varies, depending on lawn size and the extent of the work. On average, homeowners spend about $156 on lawn services, according to HomeAdvisor.

Does it make sense to shell out for such upkeep? Says financial adviser Rogers, “It’s really all a matter of budgeting, and finding out what’s most important to you.”

* Property tax rates are calculated using the U.S. Census Bureau’s median tax and median home value. For every metro area, tax rates are the average of all counties within the metro boundary. The boundary is defined by the Office of Management and Budget. 

** Average cost of insurance refers to policies on a $200,000 home with a $1,000 deductible and a $100,000 liability.

The post Top 10 Markets With the Highest Hidden Costs of Owning a Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2sHMBzr

[rtawngs20815]

Top 10 Markets With the Highest Hidden Costs of Owning a Home

avajjon/iStock; Sauliaka/iStock; realtor.com

When it’s finally time to get off the starting blocks and buy a new home, one of the first thing most folks do is … the math. How much do you need to in order to get a place—and how much do you need in order to keep it?

People tend to focus an awful lot on that towering down payment. Then they carefully calculate their closing costs and monthly mortgage payments. Maybe they’ll even factor in the cost of a plush new sofa, and a hot new SUV to park in the driveway. But before they settle into sweet domestic bliss, they really need to come to grips with something else, too: the true costs of homeownership.

Because they aren’t aways so obvious.

Property taxes, leaky roofs, home insurance, and termites — oh my. Truth be told, there are all sorts of hidden costs that could turn your bargain basement deal into a den of financial horrors. Unless, that is, you go in with eyes open wide. We’re here to help!  Our data team at realtor.com® ran the numbers to figure out the cities with the highest hidden costs of homeownership, all in the interest of helping fend off major coronary episodes once the bills come in.

Before you panic and renew your lease, remember that in most places, buying still beats renting in the long run—even with all the costs of ownership included. You’re building equity, remember?

The bottom line is: Be prepared for all the costs of ownership. Financial adviser Jenna Rogers with Mission Wealth Management often advises first-time home buyers to make a list of all the expenses that are expected for at least the first year.

“Open a new savings account, and designate it as the ‘home account,'” Rogers says. “Send the necessary amount to this home account every month. That way, when you have to pay property taxes, for example, you’ve already had the cash build up.”

Still, those costs can vary dramatically, depending on where you live. We ranked the 100 largest metropolitan areas by the following criteria:

Property tax rates

Home insurance premiums

Remodeling costs

Maintenance and repair costs

Hourly rate of housekeepers, home cleaners, gardeners, and landscapers

Pest control costs

Electricity, heating oil, and natural gas bills

Household goods, like a 40-inch flat-screen TV, laundry detergent, and toilet paper.

Hidden cost No. 1: Property taxes

Property taxes are one of the biggest home expenses you’ll have after a mortgage. Long-time homeowners have gotten used to this harsh reality, but newbie homeowners could be surprised to discover just how costly their tax bills can be, especially in the Northeast.

And sometimes, property taxes can seem surprisingly high. Homeowners in the Buffalo, NY, metro area, which covers the upstate counties of Erie and Niagara, pay a whopping 2.9% of their home’s value in tax. Rochester, Buffalo’s next-door neighbor, has a 2.8% rate on average.

Despite their top-ranking property tax rates, though, those cities did not make our overall top 10 list, because their cost of living is otherwise pretty low.

So what determines the home tax rate in a given area? They’re set and collected by state, county, or municipal agencies—in fact, multiple agencies often tax the same property. They’re tied to home values in an area, and used to pay for services, such as schools, and fire and police departments. That’s why they can be tough to predict. For example, some cash-strapped cities will charge a higher rate in order to fund better services.

And sometimes, they’re just indicators of ultra-expensive markets. Property taxes are particularly high in the New York metropolitan statistical area, which spans New York City, as well as Jersey City and Newark in New Jersey. Homeowners there pay an average of $7,300* in property tax, roughly 2% of their home’s value. (Metropolitan statistical areas, as defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget, are highly populated areas made up of one or more city cores, surrounded by suburban and rural communities that share economic ties.)

That’s way over the national average of just over $2,100, according to the Census Bureau.

This is where the equation gets simpler: “In states where you have wealthier people with more expensive homes, that tends to drive property taxes higher,” says John Buhl, spokesperson for the Tax Foundation, a Washington, DC-based think tank.

The heavy tax burden is among the leading reasons that taxpayers are fleeing New York—the state is losing more residents than any other, according to a study by newgeography.com.

Connecticut also has two metros that made our top 10, mostly because of high tax rates. Homeowners in metro Bridgeport pay 1.7% of their home’s value in tax, and those in metro New Haven pay 2.1%. Because the Bridgeport metro area stretches into wealthy Fairfield County enclaves like New Canaan and Greenwich—where hedge-fund managers and CEOs drop millions on real estate—the area has an average property tax bill of nearly $7,000 a year.

Texas, with its sprawling properties and famously affordable real estate, has surprisingly expensive property taxes. The Lone State doesn’t collect income taxes, meaning that the government relies more heavily on property taxes to fund agencies and services. The tax rate in Houston is 1.8%.

Hidden cost No. 2: Home insurance Skip the flood insurance, and you could be looking at a deluge of expenses.

EEI_Tony/iStock

Even if you’re a gambler at heart, home insurance is indispensable when it comes to protecting major assets. And they don’t get much larger than a home. For those who take out a mortgage, it’s required by the lender. For everyone else, insurance is highly recommended—who wants to risk a six-digit loss? Because stuff happens.

Florida, with a long coastline that bears the brunt of hurricanes and tropical storms, has the country’s highest average home insurance cost, at $298** per month. That’s nearly three times the national average of $102, according to Insurance.com. The pricey premiums add to the financial burdens of homeowners in Cape Coral and Miami, which both rank high on the list.

Insurance also takes a big bite out of the paychecks of New Orleans homeowners. Think two names: Katrina and Rita. After those hurricanes, not being able to find affordable insurance has become a hurdle for home buyers, especially first-timers. Why do they call this place the Big Easy again?

“In high flood-risk neighborhoods, the insurance is so expensive that it’s nearly impossible for a young couple to buy,” says Richard Jeansonne, a broker at French Quarter Realty in New Orleans. “With mortgage, flood insurance, and other expenses, it’s just not something they can afford.”

Because the cost of flood insurance is based on on the elevation of the house, buying a home on higher ground reduces the premium. Homes along the Mississippi River, like in the French Quarter and Uptown neighborhoods, are built on an elevated riverbank and are therefore cheaper to insure.

Everything’s bigger in Texas—and so are insurance premiums. After all, Texas residents are susceptible to a myriad of perils, from hailstorms to tornadoes to wildfires to floods. All the risks amount to an average of $162 in home insurance every month. Ouch!

In disaster-prone areas, homeowners could get a discount on insurance for securing the foundation and installing a metal roof, according to Insurance Council of Texas spokesman Mark Hanna. A good security system and close proximity to highly rated fire departments also reduce the premium. And maintaining a high credit score can lower your insurance rates too—sort of a housing win-win.

Hidden cost No. 3: Maintenance and remodeling Need a new roof? It’ll cost ya.

tinabelle/iStock

One of the biggest fears of cash-strapped homeowners everywhere: an issue they might not have noticed, like a leaky roof or cracked foundation, will snowball into a catastrophe, and cost a fortune to repair.

No wonder conventional real estate wisdom (CREW) dictates that you should set aside 1% of your home’s value for maintenance each year. But the real amount depends on the condition and location of your home. Repairs to storm-beaten New Orleans homes cost $31,650 on average, among the highest in our study.

In addition to repairs, homeowners need to continue investing in their homes to maintain—or better yet, increase—valuations. That’s why American homeowners are shelling out more and more on improvements. In 2016, they spent $361 billion, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. That’s up 13.5% from the previous peak in 2007.

Serious renovation, of course, goes way beyond picking out curtain patterns in Home Depot. A standard kitchen remodel project costs around $21,680 nationally, and even repainting a home’s interior costs around $1,700, according to HomeAdvisor’s True Cost Guide. And the number goes up exponentially where labor and material costs are high. In Los Angeles, the average cost of kitchen renovation is $31,177.

“When the house price is higher on average, it feels more justifiable to spend more on the house itself,” says Brad Hunter, HomeAdvisor chief economist. “Somebody in Los Angeles and San Francisco is going to be willing to pay a lot more on a kitchen than, say, Provo, Utah.”

Hidden cost No. 4: Utility bills

Homeowners can’t forget those bills for water, power, and trash that arrive each month. If you’re moving from an apartment to a home for the first time, know that the increase in square footage can pack a real punch, in a bigger utility bill.

Connecticut homeowners spend the most on heating oil, at $104 a month, according to a WalletHub analysis. In the Bridgeport metro, heating oil plus natural gas and electricity totals $309 a month, the highest in our study.

Florida’s sunny climate means that residents aren’t likely to have high heating bills. But the summer heat and humidity means that Floridians are likely to be cranking those air conditioners. Homeowners in Cape Coral pay some of the country’s highest electricity bills, at $216 a month. Not too far away, in Miami, they pay $184 a month for electricity.

In Hawaii, electricity is produced by petroleum-fired power plants. As you might imagine, petroleum must be shipped onto the islands, adding to the cost of production—and utility bills. Frugal homeowners usually install solar panels. This helps to cut down on their electricity bills, which average $172 a month in Honolulu.

Hidden cost No. 5: Domestic labor Those windows won’t wash themselves…

Bill Oxford/iStock

After a few months lugging canister vacuums up and down two flights of stairs, you may finally give up and decide to hire someone to maintain your sanity. But don’t underestimate the price of this peace of mind.

The average rate of a housekeeper is $12.50 an hour across the country, according to Care.com, an online marketplace for housekeepers and care providers. If you hire a housekeeper for three hours every month, that adds up to $450 a year.

Depending on where you live, the rate could also go up considerably—to $15 an hour or above in New York, America’s most expensive city.

Dealing with pests like mice, termites, cockroaches, and bedbugs costs $178 on average, according to HomeAdvisor. In Honolulu, the cost goes up to almost $300. The cost of living in paradise vermin-free is steep.

Mowing the lawns and blowing leaves are traditionally DIY projects, but they’re easy ones to neglect. Before you know it, your nosy neighbor has already blabbed to the neighborhood association, and fines are accruing. Bummer! The cost of outsourcing varies, depending on lawn size and the extent of the work. On average, homeowners spend about $156 on lawn services, according to HomeAdvisor.

Does it make sense to shell out for such upkeep? Says financial adviser Rogers, “It’s really all a matter of budgeting, and finding out what’s most important to you.”

* Property tax rates are calculated using the U.S. Census Bureau’s median tax and median home value. For every metro area, tax rates are the average of all counties within the metro boundary. The boundary is defined by the Office of Management and Budget. 

** Average cost of insurance refers to policies on a $200,000 home with a $1,000 deductible and a $100,000 liability.

The post Top 10 Markets With the Highest Hidden Costs of Owning a Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2sHMBzr

[grgedoors02142]

Top 10 Markets With the Highest Hidden Costs of Owning a Home

avajjon/iStock; Sauliaka/iStock; realtor.com

When it’s finally time to get off the starting blocks and buy a new home, one of the first thing most folks do is … the math. How much do you need to in order to get a place—and how much do you need in order to keep it?

People tend to focus an awful lot on that towering down payment. Then they carefully calculate their closing costs and monthly mortgage payments. Maybe they’ll even factor in the cost of a plush new sofa, and a hot new SUV to park in the driveway. But before they settle into sweet domestic bliss, they really need to come to grips with something else, too: the true costs of homeownership.

Because they aren’t aways so obvious.

Property taxes, leaky roofs, home insurance, and termites — oh my. Truth be told, there are all sorts of hidden costs that could turn your bargain basement deal into a den of financial horrors. Unless, that is, you go in with eyes open wide. We’re here to help!  Our data team at realtor.com® ran the numbers to figure out the cities with the highest hidden costs of homeownership, all in the interest of helping fend off major coronary episodes once the bills come in.

Before you panic and renew your lease, remember that in most places, buying still beats renting in the long run—even with all the costs of ownership included. You’re building equity, remember?

The bottom line is: Be prepared for all the costs of ownership. Financial adviser Jenna Rogers with Mission Wealth Management often advises first-time home buyers to make a list of all the expenses that are expected for at least the first year.

“Open a new savings account, and designate it as the ‘home account,'” Rogers says. “Send the necessary amount to this home account every month. That way, when you have to pay property taxes, for example, you’ve already had the cash build up.”

Still, those costs can vary dramatically, depending on where you live. We ranked the 100 largest metropolitan areas by the following criteria:

Property tax rates

Home insurance premiums

Remodeling costs

Maintenance and repair costs

Hourly rate of housekeepers, home cleaners, gardeners, and landscapers

Pest control costs

Electricity, heating oil, and natural gas bills

Household goods, like a 40-inch flat-screen TV, laundry detergent, and toilet paper.

Hidden cost No. 1: Property taxes

Property taxes are one of the biggest home expenses you’ll have after a mortgage. Long-time homeowners have gotten used to this harsh reality, but newbie homeowners could be surprised to discover just how costly their tax bills can be, especially in the Northeast.

And sometimes, property taxes can seem surprisingly high. Homeowners in the Buffalo, NY, metro area, which covers the upstate counties of Erie and Niagara, pay a whopping 2.9% of their home’s value in tax. Rochester, Buffalo’s next-door neighbor, has a 2.8% rate on average.

Despite their top-ranking property tax rates, though, those cities did not make our overall top 10 list, because their cost of living is otherwise pretty low.

So what determines the home tax rate in a given area? They’re set and collected by state, county, or municipal agencies—in fact, multiple agencies often tax the same property. They’re tied to home values in an area, and used to pay for services, such as schools, and fire and police departments. That’s why they can be tough to predict. For example, some cash-strapped cities will charge a higher rate in order to fund better services.

And sometimes, they’re just indicators of ultra-expensive markets. Property taxes are particularly high in the New York metropolitan statistical area, which spans New York City, as well as Jersey City and Newark in New Jersey. Homeowners there pay an average of $7,300* in property tax, roughly 2% of their home’s value. (Metropolitan statistical areas, as defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget, are highly populated areas made up of one or more city cores, surrounded by suburban and rural communities that share economic ties.)

That’s way over the national average of just over $2,100, according to the Census Bureau.

This is where the equation gets simpler: “In states where you have wealthier people with more expensive homes, that tends to drive property taxes higher,” says John Buhl, spokesperson for the Tax Foundation, a Washington, DC-based think tank.

The heavy tax burden is among the leading reasons that taxpayers are fleeing New York—the state is losing more residents than any other, according to a study by newgeography.com.

Connecticut also has two metros that made our top 10, mostly because of high tax rates. Homeowners in metro Bridgeport pay 1.7% of their home’s value in tax, and those in metro New Haven pay 2.1%. Because the Bridgeport metro area stretches into wealthy Fairfield County enclaves like New Canaan and Greenwich—where hedge-fund managers and CEOs drop millions on real estate—the area has an average property tax bill of nearly $7,000 a year.

Texas, with its sprawling properties and famously affordable real estate, has surprisingly expensive property taxes. The Lone State doesn’t collect income taxes, meaning that the government relies more heavily on property taxes to fund agencies and services. The tax rate in Houston is 1.8%.

Hidden cost No. 2: Home insurance Skip the flood insurance, and you could be looking at a deluge of expenses.

EEI_Tony/iStock

Even if you’re a gambler at heart, home insurance is indispensable when it comes to protecting major assets. And they don’t get much larger than a home. For those who take out a mortgage, it’s required by the lender. For everyone else, insurance is highly recommended—who wants to risk a six-digit loss? Because stuff happens.

Florida, with a long coastline that bears the brunt of hurricanes and tropical storms, has the country’s highest average home insurance cost, at $298** per month. That’s nearly three times the national average of $102, according to Insurance.com. The pricey premiums add to the financial burdens of homeowners in Cape Coral and Miami, which both rank high on the list.

Insurance also takes a big bite out of the paychecks of New Orleans homeowners. Think two names: Katrina and Rita. After those hurricanes, not being able to find affordable insurance has become a hurdle for home buyers, especially first-timers. Why do they call this place the Big Easy again?

“In high flood-risk neighborhoods, the insurance is so expensive that it’s nearly impossible for a young couple to buy,” says Richard Jeansonne, a broker at French Quarter Realty in New Orleans. “With mortgage, flood insurance, and other expenses, it’s just not something they can afford.”

Because the cost of flood insurance is based on on the elevation of the house, buying a home on higher ground reduces the premium. Homes along the Mississippi River, like in the French Quarter and Uptown neighborhoods, are built on an elevated riverbank and are therefore cheaper to insure.

Everything’s bigger in Texas—and so are insurance premiums. After all, Texas residents are susceptible to a myriad of perils, from hailstorms to tornadoes to wildfires to floods. All the risks amount to an average of $162 in home insurance every month. Ouch!

In disaster-prone areas, homeowners could get a discount on insurance for securing the foundation and installing a metal roof, according to Insurance Council of Texas spokesman Mark Hanna. A good security system and close proximity to highly rated fire departments also reduce the premium. And maintaining a high credit score can lower your insurance rates too—sort of a housing win-win.

Hidden cost No. 3: Maintenance and remodeling Need a new roof? It’ll cost ya.

tinabelle/iStock

One of the biggest fears of cash-strapped homeowners everywhere: an issue they might not have noticed, like a leaky roof or cracked foundation, will snowball into a catastrophe, and cost a fortune to repair.

No wonder conventional real estate wisdom (CREW) dictates that you should set aside 1% of your home’s value for maintenance each year. But the real amount depends on the condition and location of your home. Repairs to storm-beaten New Orleans homes cost $31,650 on average, among the highest in our study.

In addition to repairs, homeowners need to continue investing in their homes to maintain—or better yet, increase—valuations. That’s why American homeowners are shelling out more and more on improvements. In 2016, they spent $361 billion, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. That’s up 13.5% from the previous peak in 2007.

Serious renovation, of course, goes way beyond picking out curtain patterns in Home Depot. A standard kitchen remodel project costs around $21,680 nationally, and even repainting a home’s interior costs around $1,700, according to HomeAdvisor’s True Cost Guide. And the number goes up exponentially where labor and material costs are high. In Los Angeles, the average cost of kitchen renovation is $31,177.

“When the house price is higher on average, it feels more justifiable to spend more on the house itself,” says Brad Hunter, HomeAdvisor chief economist. “Somebody in Los Angeles and San Francisco is going to be willing to pay a lot more on a kitchen than, say, Provo, Utah.”

Hidden cost No. 4: Utility bills

Homeowners can’t forget those bills for water, power, and trash that arrive each month. If you’re moving from an apartment to a home for the first time, know that the increase in square footage can pack a real punch, in a bigger utility bill.

Connecticut homeowners spend the most on heating oil, at $104 a month, according to a WalletHub analysis. In the Bridgeport metro, heating oil plus natural gas and electricity totals $309 a month, the highest in our study.

Florida’s sunny climate means that residents aren’t likely to have high heating bills. But the summer heat and humidity means that Floridians are likely to be cranking those air conditioners. Homeowners in Cape Coral pay some of the country’s highest electricity bills, at $216 a month. Not too far away, in Miami, they pay $184 a month for electricity.

In Hawaii, electricity is produced by petroleum-fired power plants. As you might imagine, petroleum must be shipped onto the islands, adding to the cost of production—and utility bills. Frugal homeowners usually install solar panels. This helps to cut down on their electricity bills, which average $172 a month in Honolulu.

Hidden cost No. 5: Domestic labor Those windows won’t wash themselves…

Bill Oxford/iStock

After a few months lugging canister vacuums up and down two flights of stairs, you may finally give up and decide to hire someone to maintain your sanity. But don’t underestimate the price of this peace of mind.

The average rate of a housekeeper is $12.50 an hour across the country, according to Care.com, an online marketplace for housekeepers and care providers. If you hire a housekeeper for three hours every month, that adds up to $450 a year.

Depending on where you live, the rate could also go up considerably—to $15 an hour or above in New York, America’s most expensive city.

Dealing with pests like mice, termites, cockroaches, and bedbugs costs $178 on average, according to HomeAdvisor. In Honolulu, the cost goes up to almost $300. The cost of living in paradise vermin-free is steep.

Mowing the lawns and blowing leaves are traditionally DIY projects, but they’re easy ones to neglect. Before you know it, your nosy neighbor has already blabbed to the neighborhood association, and fines are accruing. Bummer! The cost of outsourcing varies, depending on lawn size and the extent of the work. On average, homeowners spend about $156 on lawn services, according to HomeAdvisor.

Does it make sense to shell out for such upkeep? Says financial adviser Rogers, “It’s really all a matter of budgeting, and finding out what’s most important to you.”

* Property tax rates are calculated using the U.S. Census Bureau’s median tax and median home value. For every metro area, tax rates are the average of all counties within the metro boundary. The boundary is defined by the Office of Management and Budget. 

** Average cost of insurance refers to policies on a $200,000 home with a $1,000 deductible and a $100,000 liability.

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