How Your Commuting Costs (SHOULD) Affect Your Home Buying Decisions

You seem to have a good handle on housing pricing. Good for you! The Internet sure holds a lot of sites that will tell you "how much" your property, or the neighbors, is worth. But, does that matter in the long run?

The biggest under "valued" cost is your day-to-day commute costs. We almost take this for granted: topping the gas tank on Sunday for the weeklong drive to/from work. Sure, we bellyache when the cost of Premium tips at $3.25/gallon, but "Whaddya gonna do about it?" doesn´t have to be the commute mantra.

Maybe not much can be done now. But, for future reference, the costs of commuting should be factored in to the equation, next time you think about buying a home.

Ten years ago buying a place located 15, 20, even 30 miles outside the city made sense. "Close-in" values were skyrocketing, and a home in the ´burbs was a much better bargain.

Enter 21st century, and homes in the ´burbs not only seem to have caught up in value and pricing to those more closer-in properties, but gas costs have reached all time highs, with very little indication of going back down to the 10 year-ago price of $1.25/gallon.

Oh, the good old days!

If you think buying a home with an hour long (one-way) commute is a good alternative, think again. You may be surprised how much money is spent on driving that you´re not factoring in. We all know about "deferred maintenance costs," those pesky things that make home-ownership so wonderful . . . 5 years from now, new rain gutters . . . 10 years from now the back fence is going to need replacing. It´s very similar to owning a car: 5 years from now, new tires, etc.

Hmmm . . . your long-term plans for maintenance and budgeting are great! But, how about the immediate, short-term? Still not seeing the forest for the trees are you??

It´s so easy to see the home costs varying by $50,000 (for example) on home prices located 15 miles outside the city. So maybe that $50,000 price difference makes us think the commute won´t be that bad, after all, "saving" $50,000 is a smart move . . . but is it??

Go to my website, and click on the handy-dandy "Commute Calculator"

EBA Portland Commute

You´ll be amazed at how much it REALLY costs when you buy a home miles and miles away from your place of employment!

Take the hidden costs out of buying! Courtesy of EBA Portland, LLC . . . your EXCLUSIVE BUYERS AGENT serving Metro Portland since 1999!

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