What, in your experience, is a good estimate for monthly utilities (electric, gas,water) in Houston & surrounding areas?

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May 05, 2015 6,104 Answer a Question

Deciding what is affordable for a monthly mortgage payment should include a reasonable budget for basic utilities. Clearly these will vary to some degree based on location, house size, and so on but having a ballpark estimate would, I believe, be helpful for many first time home buyers. My intent here is to start a thread for the benefit of folks who want to make sure they are in the right ballpark when estimating these basic costs. Of course, everyone's situation will be different and it won't provide a perfect measure by any means but having some measure based on other's experiences may help folks at least be a bit more precise.

So, if you care to submit your personal experience with electric, gas, and water bills please do so below. Just state the amount, type of home (single family, codo, etc.) and general location (e.g. Pearland, Houston East of Downtown, etc.). It may be helpful to also note winter vs summer costs.

Thank You in advance for your participation,

Diamond

Francois Delille

About 7 years ago

Depends a lot on the insulation of your house. About 1 to 1.5 cents a square foot. Hence a newer 1500sf house will cost $150 to $225 per month total.
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Ashley Williams

About 8 years ago

Personally about $20-$25 for gas and $20-$25 for water as well and electricity anywhere from $65-$100 for a 1300 square foot space.

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Nikoya Jones

About 8 years ago

I agree with the previous answer! For a moderately sized home utilities are very reasonable. In Texas, electricity is deregulated. Everyone is now able to shop for the best rate plan for themselves and even negotiate!

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Kelly Jackson

About 8 years ago

With the warm temperatures, gas bills are generally on the lower end. Water bills can get up there depending on whether you have a sprinkler system or not. Electricity is available through multiple outlets so you can actually shop for the lowest values, depending on where you live. In general, utilities are not an enormous expense in a moderately sized house, and very economical in an apartment.

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