Tommy: the bank checks your mortgage, not your power bill; lenders leave utilities out when they judge what you can afford. Dougie: sweet, mansion, lights off. Scarf: utilities average $412 a month, up 7%. Town hall: ban furnaces! Abe: Mayor, do listings mention the power bill? Mayor Dithers: yes. Abe: 8% of them do; 84% of buyers say it matters. Tommy learned something today: ask the utility for last year's bills. Dougie: I asked, they want money.
The biggest cost of owning a home after the mortgage, utilities at $7,679 a year, is the one lenders leave out when they judge what a buyer can afford: the average utility bill reached $412 a month in 2025, up 7% in a year, 84% of recent buyers say energy efficiency matters to them but only about 8% of listings mention it, and a buyer can ask the utility company for a year of past bills on any address.
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X · Oct 14, 2026
