I'm Putting a New Roof on the House I'm Buying. Here's How Much It's Going to Cost Me

I am buying a house very soon. The home is a bit of a fixer-upper, and one of the first things that we will be doing once we move in is adding a new roof. The existing roof does not have much life left.

This is coming at a huge cost. Fortunately, we knew about this upfront and have budgeted money to pay for it even as we begin making our new mortgage payments. But the high cost just demonstrates why it is so important to be prepared for big expenses as a homeowner.

The roof costs how much!?!

We wanted to find out how much the roof would cost us before we decided to move forward with purchasing the house. To do that, we got quotes from four different roofers. Amazingly, our least expensive quote came in at $34,800.

This is above the average cost of a new roof, which is typically between $8,500 and $14,300 (according to This Old House). The cost is high due to some complicating factors including strict Florida building codes (due to hurricanes), HOA rules that require a certain roofing material, and the unusual shape of the roof of our home.

But even when a roof costs closer to the average, this can be a huge financial burden if you aren't prepared for the expense.

Homeownership costs go well beyond a mortgage alone

The reality is, if you are buying a home, a new roof is just one of many big expenses you might incur during the time you're living there. New air conditioners, new siding, and window replacements are among the biggest expenses you might face, each of which would come at a cost of thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars.

And that's just for big-ticket items. You'll also have routine maintenance costs to deal with for things like new HVAC air filters. Mean spending on maintenance, repairs, home insurance, and other expenses comes in at $2,559 annually among all consumer units, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

You'll have to make sure you're prepared to cover these additional costs beyond a mortgage loan before you buy a home -- including paying for very expensive repairs should they become necessary. Your best option is to assume that you'll need to spend around 1% of your home's cost per year in maintenance. So if you buy a $400,000 home, you'd want to plan to put an additional $4,000 into it each year.

You may not spend 1% every year, but you should save that money in a high-yield savings account for years you don't incur big repair costs -- so you're ready when your roof needs to be replaced like mine does. And to avoid becoming house poor, you should be sure that even with this cost in place, your total housing expenses won't exceed around 25% to 30% of your income.

By planning ahead for roof repairs or other big ticket items, you can avoid financial disaster if something goes wrong with your home. Do this before you buy, so you aren't left facing unpleasant surprise expenses that you have no way to pay once the keys are in your hands.