Being a player in the real estate industry and owning property guarantees that at least at one point in life, you will have spent on maintenance and repairs. This necessitates that you have an emergency home fund. As a homeowner, you will enjoy a lot of financial rewards such as reprieves from paying rent. However, this comes at a cost, and that is why you are required to be prepared to meet some expenses that arise from time to time, such as catering for emergency repair services. If, for instance, you are buying a new property, expect it to be hiding numerous issues, and that is why you are advised to prepare beforehand. However, there are some issues that you cannot evade, and that is why you should be prepared to meet the below-outlined expenses;
1) Home maintenance;
A lot of folks look at just the affordability of the mortgage along with the utilities, and they never consider the budget of maintaining that house when buying it. Here, the target is not just those who buy older homes, and it includes those who go for newly constructed homes. No matter what your choice is, you cannot evade maintenance costs. Any home needs regular upkeep to ensure it is in good condition. Some of the maintenance expenses may arise from repainting, duct cleaning, replacing home appliances, windows, floors, among others.
2) Home repairs;
Just like regular maintenance, repairs will come knocking on your door without any warnings, and you will be needed to spend without any hesitation. Factors like harsh weather conditions may give your house a beating and leave you with a leaking roof, and you may need to go for new machines such as refrigerators and water heaters; all these will require money, money that will come from the emergency home fund. And as a result, you need to be ready to handle expenses from emergency repair services that you may need.
Guidelines on how to always afford home emergency repair expenses;
Handling emergency repair and maintenance starts with planning and budgeting. This is how you can go about it.
a) Setting aside some emergency funds when buying the home;
Contrary to most people who often invest everything when buying a home, keep aside some cash reserve to serve as an emergency option, so as you pay your down payment along with the closing costs, do not forget the essence of emergency funds.
b) Augment your earnings and savings;
Adopt a saving tendency of setting aside a portion of your profits to the home emergency fund. Try and increase the amount you are saving gradually, keep it in interest yielding savings accounts so as it does not just lie around idle but earn some money as it waits for its purpose.
c) Home warranty options;
If the out of pocket, direct injection of money to the home emergency fund is a hard thing for you to do, then you can opt to buy a home warranty and pay either a monthly or yearly set value to a warranty company.
d) Home equity loan option;
Some repairs, especially after hurricane devastation, may be more than anticipated and saved for. As a result, you may need more resources, and the best way is to get a home equity loan.
In conclusion, if you are going for a home, plan well, budget well, do your due diligence and ensure you buy a top-notch product. However, despite all that, prepare for the inevitable, paying for the emergency repair expenses.
