Appraised value of house: $288,000 1600 sq. ft., 3 bed, 3 1/2 bath.
City taxes - includes garbage pickup: $300/month
Natural gas (hot water, fireplace, heating): $64/month
Electricity/water: varies depending on season, so this is an average $140/month (about half this is fixed delivery charges)
Snow removal/lawn care (not apologizing for this!): $100/month
House insurance: $65/month
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$669/month total
Things like flowers for the summer, etc. probably add about $80/year. I'm not including phone/cable/internet, since the costs would be the same no matter where we lived. The total doesn't include repairs, etc. There aren't any major ones looming immediately, but we know that we will need some down the road if we stay here. When comparing with what it would cost to rent, we're allowing about $4000/year to be added into the house costs. Although we could find a 2 bed apartment for about $1100/month here, it wouldn't be in the greatest area, or the nicest place. For us, it actually works out better to own rather than rent for now.