Liz's Blog

First-time homebuyer Teresa Hair had owned her house less than two months when water started bubbling up through the guest bedroom floor.

“The whole floor was just covered,” says Hair, a 34-year-old attorney who lives in St. Petersburg, Florida. “I pulled up all the laminate flooring and there was an inch of water.”

Finding and repairing the broken pipe — it was in a wall shared with the kitchen, behind the dishwasher — cost $1,000. Replacing the flooring may cost considerably more. But the expenses aren’t a crisis, Hair says, because she resisted the urge to buy as much home as lenders said she could afford. She also made sure the purchase, including closing costs, didn’t drain her savings.

“I still had a little bit of money saved up, so I wasn’t strapped,” Hair says. “You have to know when you buy a house that you’re going to need something in addition to what you need to close.”

In my latest for NerdWallet, how the hidden costs of homeownership can equal if not exceed the mortgage payments you send to the bank.