cagandchris

Trying to work out finances (the boring bit )

Roughly how much would it cost to run a new 4 bedroomed house in Brisbane?
There will just be the two of us living there.

Gas ?
Electric ?
Phone / internet ?
Water ?
Tax/rates ?
Have I missed anything else???

thanks

MarkandJulie

Hey,
Ours is a 4 bed highset (for me, wife & 3 kids). No gas (except for bbq - $20 refill has lasted us 5 months and still going). Electric is about $250 per quarter. Internet $60/month (bigpond broadband). Phone, very little - maybe $25/month plus $5/month for phonecards to call UK at cheap rates (1.5c/min). Water and rates we don't have to pay because we are renting at moment so I can't help you there. Lawn mowing $35/fortnight, could do it yourself if you like hard work in the blazing sun!

ABCDiamond

Gas ? None - Electric only : But Gas for BBQ cooking about $100 per year = 4/5 refills. Some people may only use 1 or 2 per year
Electric ? $264 -$344 per Qtr our high and low over two years
Phone / internet ? Internet $60pm Phone Line Rental $30pm Usage ?? $20-$150pm our high and low over two years
Water ? If Renting, our water usage was $59 this quarter
Tax/rates ? Water & Rates combined $462 this quarter
This is for a two storey, 4/5 bed house, computer on 16hrs day, one person at home all day. Air con only in main bedroom, Fans/ceiling fans in most rooms running almost all the time, no Pool.

A Pool would add more electricity costs.

Quinkana

In addition to the costs associated with running a house is depreciation.

Carpets, hot water systems, roofing, ... eventually need replacing, and eventually the building must be knocked down and replaced.

Here are the allowed rates of depreciation for rented properties:

Depreciation for Rental Properties

Those rates are a fair enough measure of the money which should be put aside or budgeted for when considering the medium term cost of running a household.

For example, the rate for building depreciation after September 15, 1987 is 2.5%. Counter to this has been episodic location appreciation which has average ~7% per year over the longer term.

cagandchris

Thanks folks this is helpful!!