Buying a house might seem like a straightforward transaction, but many people overlook some common financial factors until it’s too late. Some errors can seriously impact your financial well-being, especially when you're buying a big house.

It’s important to be extremely careful as a new or potential homeowner when considering the total financial impact of your major life purchase. To help you, we’ve put together a list of five unexpected ways that purchasing a big home can impact your personal finances.

1. Private Mortgage Insurance

If you’re like most people and you don’t have tens of thousands of dollars in cash lying around to pay for a house, you’re probably going to have to get something like an FHA loan. An FHA loan allows you to take out a loan for nearly the entire value of the home without having to put a lot of your own money toward a down payment.

Private mortgage insurance (PMI) is a monthly charge in addition to your regular monthly payment on your mortgage that many people who get FHA loans don’t see coming. You’ll have to pay this insurance premium until you gain at least a 20 percent ownership in your home, which can take a long time — especially if you’re getting a bigger, more expensive home.

Make sure you talk to your loan administrator about PMI, so you’re fully educated before signing the papers.

2. Heating and Cooling Costs

To stay comfortable throughout the year, regardless of what climate you live in, you will need to heat and cool your home. If you’re planning on buying a large house, you should be aware that heating and cooling becomes much more complicated at higher volumes.

Ensuring that a large home is sealed properly for HVAC systems can be a difficult task, simply because of its size. If indoor air is escaping and outdoor air is coming in, it can be very hard to pinpoint the source of the issue and force your HVAC systems to run all the time. This will end up costing you a ton of money in heating and cooling costs, as well as professional help locating the issue.

3. Repairs and Replacements

While you might be starstruck at a beautiful, big house when you’re ready to buy, you must consider the financial consequences of the upkeep of such a large space. Since you’re dealing with a large house, you can expect all the repair costs to be larger, as well.

A new roof for a large home can cost tens of thousands of dollars. You might be able to plan for an expense like that, but what if the plumbing breaks or you have electrical issues? More house requires more plumbing and more wires, which only means that it will be more difficult for a professional to diagnose, find the source, and fix the issue.

If you are stretching your budget to afford the big home you want and not leaving room for these massive repair and replacement costs that can and will occur, you might find yourself in a tough spot later down the road.

4. Tanks on the Property

If you are buying a big home, chances are it’s going to be in a more rural area to accommodate the size of the house. When you’re outside of the city, you might not be hooked up to city water and sewer lines. This means you'll have to get your own to keep on your property.

Sewage tank issues often come out of nowhere and can be a massive expense for homeowners. These tanks are strictly regulated by the EPA, making them costly to keep up with — and even more expensive when they fall into disrepair.

If you’re sewage tank breaks or you have a well issue, you can imagine how the costs can skyrocket with a professional coming to dig up the tank with heavy machinery, replacing the tank itself, having the tank reinstalled and hooked into existing lines and re-burying the tank.

5. Taxes

While most homeowners do consider taxes before buying a property, many fail to think about the long-term tax increases that are bound to occur. When taxes are re-evaluated locally, larger homes often take much bigger hits than smaller houses. If you are not financially prepared for something like that to happen, buying a bigger house may not be for you.

Be sure to research not only what the taxes currently are for the home you're considering buying, but also what the local government’s plans are for the future of tax evaluation. If you find they're planning on re-evaluating soon, you may need to find a smaller house or look in a different locale.

It's also time to consider what your emergency plan is should anything unfortunate happen. Can your family afford these tax rates and mortgage payments if you lose a source of income? Does your life insurance plan accommodate your family's new needs in a more expensive home? While there's no reason to feel fear, it's time to take all of the above points into account and develop a solid strategy in the case of unexpected circumstances.

Protect Your Finances by Living Within Your Means

Unexpected costs like these can easily put a homeowner who is not prepared in a bankruptcy situation and cause them to become house poor. When considering a big house, it’s imperative to either build mishaps like this into your budget or consider buying a smaller home if it’s not possible.

The best way to approach home buying is to buy what you can afford. Look at what you’re making and how much expense you can take on comfortably, while still having plenty of money to buy food, clothing, and do something fun occasionally.

Living within your means is a responsible and easy way to make sure you don’t end up in bankruptcy or a major financial pickle. Buying a house you can afford is a vital piece of having a comfortable lifestyle, which means you may have to cut back on the square footage to make it work.