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Originally Posted by Angelorum  So what kind of surprise costs come with a first house? Things you might not have needed to own before while renting, but suddenly become necessary (like a lawn mower), other fees/things people generally don't think of, etc...
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It really depends on whether you're talking about the long term costs, or the immediate up-front, need to take care of it now costs.
When you get a home inspection, ask for a roof inspection, they should be able to estimate when that will need to be replaced. Our was estimated at having 2-3 years life left in it when we bought, but we actually got almost 8 out of it. Find out how old the hot water heater is - tank heaters have a functional life span of about 12 years. Ours was about 8 when we bought the house, and only now (10 years later) are we starting to have to think about replacing it - but we've been lucky. Have the HVAC system checked out, how old is it, how efficient, how clean, how well maintained, etc. Sometimes these things are included, sometimes they have to be requested. But going in with your eyes open can prevent big surprises later.
It also depends on whether you're the type of person who will walk into a new situation and it *must* be dealt with now. Like I said, we're 10 years in, and we still have windows with no coverings (the dining room and the spare bedroom). We have a back porch which was rickety and not up to code when we bought it, and it won't be torn down until probably next summer, when baby starts threatening to walk. We very obviously have been of the opinion that these things are not urgent, and therefore are not the top priority, and the money was better spent elsewhere. Getting functional laundry hook-ups, that was a higher priority, but it still waited 6(7?) years. Getting drainage in so the basement didn't flood every winter, that took about 6 years. New windows throughout (5 years), those were all higher priorities. I believe the only things to be done immediately upon purchase was updating the electrical, gutting the bathroom, and painting. All of which was done before move-in.
We don't have a lawnmower because we don't have a lawn, per se. We have a weed-whacker, which is more versatile if you don't have a large expanse of grass, and generally cheaper (and easy to borrow from a friend).
The other cost is often furniture. Like a pp said, a lot of people will start buying furniture to fill the space... which is expensive. If you're on a budget (and aren't we all?), make do with what you have for a while until you can really see what you *need*, then shop around and buy quality. We didn't even get a TV stand until a year ago, when we found precisely what we were looking for in a close-out sale. Yes, it often felt like we were still a couple of college students, but we didn't waste our money, and were able to get precisely what we wanted.
Other costs are usually closing costs. Have an estimate going in of what you're going to need to come in with to close, and make sure you have (at least) twice that on hand. Having those costs double at the last minute is not uncommon.
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