There are no simple answers to this question. When you buy a house, you incur all types of costs depending on your particular circumstances.
Some of those costs could be loan origination fees, title insurance, home warranty, escrow fees, document fees, HOA transfer fees, etc. These are all up-front costs, some of which can be rolled into your loan, some of which cannot.
If you pay cash for your $80,000 home, you’ll still be paying a small amount above $80,000.
Now, if you think of cost in the way that you should be thinking of cost, you’ll be considering the actual cost of owning the home, which would include not only out of pocket expenses, but also long term costs, recurring costs, and opportunity costs.
Long Term Costs
If you’re purchasing on a loan, then you need to look at an amortization schedule which shows you the total amount of interest paid to the bank. Add that to $80,000. Now, project a potential increase in property value over time (which cannot accurately be predicted) and combine all of the numbers to see if you break even, or if you’re ahead of the game.
Recurring Costs
Deferred maintenance is a part of life. You WILL need to replace expensive parts of your house over the life of the home. You’ll need a new roof, new fascia boards, a new water heater, new appliances, air conditioner, you name it.
Opportunity Costs
This is probably the hardest to calculate. Opportunity costs are the losses you would incur had you done something else with your time or money. This can really only be measured after the fact, or loosely projected up front.
As you can see, the question asked is much more difficult to answer than one would expect, especially if you’re used to considering only what the monthly payment will be.






