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The Five Costs Your Lender Doesn't Calculate

Your mortgage approval number tells you what you can borrow. It says nothing about property tax, insurance, PMI, maintenance, or utilities — the five costs that typically add 30–60% to the monthly mortgage payment.

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What's in the guide

Five costs. Eight minutes. Before you make an offer.

The approval process is optimized for the lender's risk — not your financial wellbeing. These are the five costs absent from every approval calculation.

1
Property Tax

Why the county average is the wrong number — and how to find the actual figure for any property.

2
Homeowner's Insurance

Why approval estimates diverge from real quotes — and what to do before making an offer.

3
Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)

When it applies, what it costs, and when a smaller purchase at 20% down eliminates it entirely.

4
Maintenance Reserve

The number new owners consistently underestimate in year one and discover in years two through five.

5
Utilities

How to get the actual utility cost for a specific property before you make an offer.

Want the full framework?

This guide covers the five costs. The Plain Brief PB-HOME-BUY-01 goes deeper — five realistic approaches, a real example with actual numbers, and a workbook to apply the framework to any specific property.

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