When most people think about buying a home, they focus on one number: the mortgage payment.
But your mortgage is only part of the picture.
If you’re planning to buy a home in Ontario, it’s important to understand the real monthly cost of homeownership — not just what the bank approves you for.
Let’s break down what you should budget for beyond your mortgage.
Here’s the short answer:
Beyond your mortgage payment, you should budget for:
Let’s go through each one.
A common rule of thumb is 1%–3% of your home’s value per year for maintenance.
For example:
This doesn’t mean you’ll spend that every month — but roofs, furnaces, appliances, driveways, and windows all eventually need replacement.
If you’re stretching to buy, ignoring maintenance costs can turn homeownership from exciting to stressful very quickly.
Property taxes vary by municipality and home value, but they are often one of the largest non-mortgage housing costs.
Important things to remember:
If your taxes are $3,600 per year, that’s an extra $300 per month on top of your mortgage.
Utilities often surprise first-time buyers.
Depending on the home, you may be responsible for:
Utility costs vary widely depending on:
Older homes often come with higher utility costs — something that doesn’t always show up in a listing sheet.
Home insurance is mandatory if you have a mortgage.
Costs vary based on:
Most homeowners can expect somewhere between $100–$200 per month, but this can vary.
It’s important to get an insurance quote before you remove financing conditions — not after.
Yes — absolutely.
As a homeowner, you are now your own landlord.
That means:
Ideally, you should have:
Buying a home without any cash cushion is one of the biggest financial stress triggers I see.
If you’re buying a condo, you may also have monthly condo fees.
These can cover:
Condo fees reduce your personal maintenance responsibility — but they still count toward your monthly affordability.
We see varying property tax amounts in different pockets of our area that will provide surprises to home owners. The Rapids Parkway area in Northeast Sarnia seems to be a sting to home owners’ budgets as several of those homes have much greater annual property tax amounts than other areas in Sarnia. While a home owner in the Village of Point Edward might find that their property tax amounts are as-expected, and come with the perk of garbage collection twice per week during the summer season.
Rainwater can be troublesome for several mid-town Sarnia home owners where drainage challenges are known. Making sure that a savings account for annual maintenance is topped-up or restored is important. These funds can be used to manage surface water by cleaning gutters, extending downspouts away from foundation, maintaining window wells, sealing cracks between driveway and foundation, and continuing to care for a sump pump.
In our experience, having $5,000 in savings to assist with these items is a great start. Don’t be afraid to use it either. We’ll find home owners that will keep the $5,000 in savings and instead choose to use their Line of Credit instead which incurs interest costs. That money is there for a reason, not to just stare at.
When I help clients prepare for homeownership, we don’t just look at what you can qualify for.
We look at:
Because qualifying for a mortgage and comfortably owning a home are two very different things.
Your mortgage payment is only part of the equation.
Before buying, make sure you understand:
If you’re unsure what that full picture looks like for you, let’s walk through it together.
Book a chat with us and we’ll build a plan that sets you up for confident, sustainable homeownership.
