Spent 6 years in apartments. Just bought a house. Here's what nobody warned me about.
- Lawn care in Texas heat is a part-time job. Mowing every week in summer. Watering constantly. The grass will die if you look at it wrong in August.
- Property tax hits different when you write the check yourself. In an apartment it's hidden in rent. Now I see the $8K bill annually.
- Everything that breaks is YOUR problem. AC went out the second month. $400 repair. In an apartment I would've called maintenance.
- Homeowner's insurance in Texas is expensive. Wind, hail, storms. My premium is $2,400/year.
- Water bill is 3x what I expected. Watering the lawn in summer adds $80-100/month easy.
I don't regret buying. But I wish someone had given me realistic numbers instead of just "your mortgage will be close to your rent."
Nobody ever includes property tax and insurance when they compare mortgage to rent. With those factored in, my "cheaper than rent" mortgage is actually $500 more than my old apartment.