Calculate your monthly housing expenses
Use our mortgage payment calculator to estimate your ”all-in” monthly carrying costs.
When you take out a mortgage to buy a home, you know how much your monthly mortgage payment will be. However, that's not the only monthly cost associated with owning a home - and the extra ones can add up fast. Depending on where your new home is located, and which utilities it's hooked up to, the additional monthly costs will vary from home-to-home. Here are some of the most common costs you could have to pay each month as a homeowner.
This table shows your estimated monthly carrying costs for a $350,000 home with a $300,000 mortgage at 3.24% amortized over 25 years.
Mortgage Payment | $1,456.94 |
---|---|
Monthly Property Tax | $729.17 |
Utilities | $300.00 |
Home Insurance | $50.00 |
Phone | $40.00 |
Cable | $60.00 |
Internet | $45.00 |
Total | $2,681.10 |
Use our mortgage payment calculator to estimate your ”all-in” monthly carrying costs.
Property taxes are a major source of income for municipalities across Canada, and are used to help pay for services, such as:
Each municipality determines their own tax rate every year. Due to this, it’s difficult to keep an accurate list of every rate. That said, generally property taxes will be 0.50-2.50% multiplied by the market value of your home. The resulting amount is billed to you once per year.
For example, if your home is assessed at a value of $400,000, and your property tax rate is 1.00%, then your property tax bill would be:
Learn more about how to pay your property taxes, and how being a new homeowner affects how much property tax you owe, by visiting our property tax page.
Condo fees (also known as strata or maintenance fees) are mandatory fees paid to cover a wide range of expenses. Generally, condo fees will cover your utilities (or part of them), contribute to the condo association’s “reserve fund” and pay for maintenance of the common areas and the exterior of the condo building.
Condo fees can vary from building to building, but in Toronto, the average is estimated to be $0.50 per square foot6. It’s important to find out exactly what is not covered by your condo fees before you purchase your condo, so you know which additional monthly costs you are responsible for paying. When you view a condo, your realtor should provide you with a fact sheet that includes your monthly condo fees. Here’s an example of condo fees for some buildings in Toronto:
Building | Address | Condo Fees/Square Foot | Average Price of 1-Bedroom | Average Square Footage of 1-Bedroom | Estimated Condo Fees for 1-Bedroom | Fees Cover |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Ritz-Carlton | 183 Wellington St W | $0.98 | $913,666 | 1,368 | $0.98 x 1,368 = $1,340.64 | Common element maintenance, heat, water |
The Modern | 320 Richmond St E | $0.60 | $280,000 | 505 | $0.60 x 505 = $303 | Common element maintenance, heat, water |
Six50 King | 95 Bathurst & 650 King St W | $0.49 | $363,941 | 654 | $0.49 x 654 = $320.46 | Air conditioning, common element maintenance, heat, building insurance, water |
Utilities are the services required to run your home including: power, water, sewer and heating costs. The cost of utilities, especially heating costs, can vary widely from home to home and from season to season, depending on the construction of your home and the type of heating system that is installed.
It’s important to get an accurate estimate of your utilities costs from your realtor and factor in these expenses when calculating your additional monthly costs. Utility bills are usually due monthly. If your home is a condo, part of these expenses may be covered by condo fees.
When you buy a home, you’ll need to transfer the utility accounts into your name, and make payments each month.
Home insurance can protect you against all types of damage to your home, such as flooding, vandalism and theft. Most lenders require you to have home insurance to get a mortgage so they can protect the asset they are lending on. You can pay your home insurance either monthly or annually.2
Home insurance is paid through payments called premiums. The premium you pay is calculated based on the type of coverage you want and several risk factors including:
There are three ways to buy home insurance:
Here are some examples of the companies that sell home insurance:
Type | Examples |
---|---|
Broker | All-Risks Insurance Brokers Ltd, Safeway Insurance and Finances Services |
Agent | State Farm, The Co-operators |
Insurance Company | Allstate Canada, RBC, TD |
Do you use the internet, cable and have a phone line? Those expenses will need to paid in your new home as well. These expenses will need to be paid monthly and often have an additional, one-time hook up fee. Depending on which upgrades you select, your communications bundle can range in price, but plan on spending at least $150 for this monthly cost.
Your home will also need maintenance. You’ll be responsible for repairing everything from the plumbing to the roof, as well as for general upkeep like lawn care and snow removal.
Typically, these costs will range from between 3.00-5.00% of your home’s value per year5. Generally if your home is newer you can expect to spend closer to 3.00% per year, and if your home is older you will spend closer to 5.00% per year on maintenance. If you’re home’s value is $400,000, you can expect to spend between $12,000 and $20,000 per year maintaining it, or between $1000 and $1,666/month. Some months you may pay less, but other months may require a major repair and you will need to pay more.
For example, one year you may only need to replace an appliance like your refrigerator for $1,500, in another year you may need to do a major repair, like replacing a roof, which can cost up to $8,500 for an average sized home.
If you live in a condo, some of these maintenance expenses will be covered by your condo fees, such as snow removal and maintenance of the exterior of the building and common areas.
It’s important to take these additional monthly costs into account because if you don’t, you may find your monthly budget too stretched to meet your other financial obligations, including saving enough for retirement and making your monthly debt payments. Some call this being “house poor”.
When considering how much of your budget will be allocated to your housing costs, it’s important to get a complete and accurate picture of how much you’re really going to be spending. Using our mortgage payment calculator can help you accurately estimate these costs.