This Week on Liz$plaining: The Unexpected Costs of Buying a Home

Well, here we are: Episode five, the season finale of Liz$plaining, Apartment Therapy’s personal finance series for real people. I know, I can’t believe it either! Another thing I can’t wrap my head around? How expensive it is to buy a house—even beyond the ginormous sticker price. And that, weirdly enough, is what this week’s episode is all about! See what I did there?

A theory I have is that right now, Millennials see buying a home as either a plotline on HGTV, something our rich friend did with the help of their parents, or the punchline to a joke. It’s not something we think we can do, so we’re not even going to try.

But if there’s one thing I feel passionately about (besides existential theater, cheesecake, and hot dads), it’s that many people just need someone to tell them that the thing they think is impossible is actually possible. Many Millennials are getting further in their careers and paying off their student loans, but aren’t trying to buy a home because they’ve heard so many times that they can’t—even when the numbers are starting to add up that we actually can.

But as Apartment Therapy’s real estate editor, I promise to be both of those people for you: I’m going to not only tell you that you can buy a home if you want to in the future, but I’m going to help you get there! Yes, it’s going to a lot of planning and time, and it’s not going to be a ton of fun, but it’s often a good investment, and therefore, goal-worthy.

One of the first steps of planning? Figuring out how much it’s actually going to cost. You could talk to friends or family who’ve done it before, or, I don’t know… watch the above episode of Liz$plaining to find out what “hidden” costs that online mortgage calculator is keeping from you?

Okay now, a couple of questions from me: I’d love to know from those seasoned homeowners watching: What do you wish you knew about your home-related finances while you were just starting out? For those who are just starting out: Did you find anything particularly interesting? I’m genuinely interested, but also it could potentially inform where we take the series next season.

On that note, I am signing off for this season, but thanks so much for following along!

Liz Steelman
Real Estate Editor, Apartment Therapy

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