Clever Real Estate: Buyers Pay More Than $30,000 on Top of Down Payment

(Image courtesy of Clever Real Estate; Breakout image courtesy of PNW Production/pexels.com)

Clever Real Estate, St. Louis, released a new study, finding that homebuyers are spending an average of $31,975 on expenses in addition to their down payment and closing costs.

These costs aren’t necessarily anticipated by buyers–with 47% surprised by the costs of purchasing their home beyond the sale price.

The extra expenses include closing costs (average of $4,754), repairs and renovations (average of $13,498), concessions (average of $3,943) and miscellaneous expenses (average of $9,780).

Some of the miscellaneous expenses include moving costs, private mortgage insurance and home inspections.

In terms of renovation costs–the largest chunk that buyers report spending on–the most popular upgrades include painting/staining, major appliance repair or replacement, landscaping/fencing, plumbing updates, new or refinished floors and electrical updates.

About 81% of home buyers report making repairs or improvements on their home within one year of purchasing it.

The survey–querying individuals who have purchased a home since 2022–found 72% of buyers have regrets about their home buying process. And, 68% would have made different decisions–buyers think they could have saved an average of $24,000.

Forty-eight percent said the cost of buying a home–including all those costs–was higher than they expected; 39% said they went over budget and 38% said their purchase affected their ability to maintain their savings or emergency fund.

With a down payment and all the additional costs, the typical cost of buying a home has reached $107,230–assuming a 15% down payment on an average-priced U.S. home.