The 'hidden' housing costs sinking homeowners

Getty Images; Tyler Le/BI

Homebuyers tend to fixate on a few numbers in the hunt for their next place. The biggest one is the sticker price — the six or seven figures that can stir either exhilaration (if it's a steal) or dread (if it's a stretch). There's the hunk of cash they'll need for a down payment, and the mortgage rate that will determine how much the loan costs. Then there's the all-important monthly payment, the number that will hang over their heads for the next few decades.

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