Then I looked at the cost of purchasing a home. I found a nice townhouse for sale for $130,000. I only had $6,500 for a down payment, so my home loan would be $123,500. Interest rates are pretty good now, so if I were to get a home loan for the townhouse, my payment on the home loan would be $770 per month. I estimated that I would also have to pay $300 per month in property taxes, $108 per month for maintenance, $33 per month for homeowner’s insurance, and $80 per month for mortgage insurance. So my total monthly cost of home ownership would be approximately $1,291 per month, or $15,492 per year to own.