Home maintenance catches many buyers off guard

The house hunt, the loan approval, the paperwork and the packing. All these tasks are a part of the home buying process but according to a new survey, the real work happens after you move in. HomeAdvisor recently conducted a survey of 1,000 homeowners to learn more about their most and least favorite parts of homeownership and found that nearly one in five say home maintenance responsibilities actually have them regretting their purchase.

Nearly half of respondents say they underestimated how much time, money and effort would be needed to be put toward upkeep of their home. Gen Xers (those born between 1965 and 1980) were the age group most likely to underestimate the amount of time they’d need to dedicate to home maintenance. Millennials were the largest age group to claim they knew what they were getting in to with home maintenance and say they perfectly estimated the time needed.

For purposes of this survey, home maintenance included everyday chores like cleaning. Cleaning windows was named by all age groups as the task they liked the least, followed by cleaning out the gutters and the bathroom fans.

Meanwhile, conforming no-point 30-year fixed mortgage rates are averaging 2.875 percent and 15-year rates are near 2.25 percent.

Do you have a question for Real Estate & Mortgage Analyst Mehran Aram? Submit your queries about a home purchase, refinance, or reverse mortgage via Aramco.biz, social media (#AramcoReport), or over the phone at (877) 700-0942 and your questions may be featured in an upcoming article.