The mortgage is the easy part: what a home really costs

USA Today talked to homeowners who budgeted carefully for the mortgage and got blindsided by everything around it. Repairs, property taxes, and insurance premiums all landed higher than expected, and the gap showed up after closing rather than before.

In Florida that gap runs wider than in most places. Your premium is a bigger share of the monthly payment here, and if it is escrowed, a rate increase raises your mortgage payment without you touching the loan. Get a real quote on the specific address before you make an offer, not a rough estimate based on a similar house down the street. Roof age, wind mitigation features, and distance to the coast can swing the number by thousands on two homes that look identical from the curb.

An independent agent can quote a home before you buy it and re-shop the policy each year, so an escrow increase does not catch you twice.