Realtor.com looks beyond the down payment, closing costs, and the monthly mortgage payment and compiled a list of the 100 metro markets based on the true or hidden cost of homeownership.
The criteria included property tax rates, Buffalo, N.Y. homeowners pay 2.9 percent of their home’s value in taxes; home insurance, coastal Florida, New Orleans, and Texas pay monthly insurance premiums higher than the $102 national average, and maintenance and remodeling; a kitchen remodel in Los Angeles where labor and materials costs are exponentially high can run $31,177.
