<prompt> Human: My wife and I are looking to move out of our overpriced tiny apartment into something farther out of our city to find a more affordable place. I am almost certain we could find a decent house for lower mortgage payments than our current rent. What are other costs we should be considering when thinking about buying our first house in the US after apartment living for many years?Edit: Thank you all for the insight! Promise I am reading all of this and it is helping with the conversation.  <response>: Lots of people are listing things like lawn care, yard maintenance, things of that nature. We bought a house and bought a 100 push mower from Home Depot. I mow the lawn once a week until it reduces down to every other when the cold starts coming. It mulches as it mows so theres no extra raking of grass trimmings involved. Its new so it takes me a long time to use up the gas in my 5 gallon gas can. I believe these days I fill it up once the entire season. You can get a rake for 5 from a cheap store like Big Lots, and they also sell things like shovels and hoes if you need them. Mulch goes on sale for 2 a bag in the spring and you can usually load up during the week that its on sale. If its snowy in your area then you can buy a decent snow shovel for 20, or a snow mover for a little more I have both. Salt is cheap. We even get special stuff since we have dogs and the cost is negligible. Just dont go out to lunch one week. My point is that you need to consider these things, but as long as you dont mind doing this work then you dont need a high budget as opposed to if you were paying for landscaping services or plowing services. Unless youre in a terrible area or have physical limitations then you dont need a snowblower or riding tractor. I imagine that some day I wont want to shovel three times a day during blizzards but for now its nothing I cant handle. 