Brrr! 4 Nasty Surprises You May Face Owning a Home in Winter

By Janet Siroto |  Realtor.com Contributor
​Featured expertise by Jason Gelios

(Getty Images)

When you buy a home, there is usually a flurry of things you look forward to experiencing in winter. Watching that first snowfall through the living room window. Snuggling up by the crackling fireplace. Building a snowman or watching your kids make snow angels in the yard.
All of that creates wonderful memories. But some of the things that you discover during your first winter of homeownership can bring you crashing back to reality.
In my case, when we bought our 1920s suburban New York home, we had some rude awakenings. For example, the previous homeowners (empty nesters) told us their heating costs were a couple of hundred dollars per month. We moved in with our boys, who left lights on at every level and never shut down their gaming station. That first bill was a biggie, and it remained high no matter how much we tried to tamp down our electricity use (more on why later).

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