How To Plan Your Home Maintenance Budget

Planning for Home Maintenance

Planning for home maintenance requires thinking about several different factors. How old is your home? How old are your appliances? When was the last time your windows, roof, and doors were updated? These are all things you need to consider when planning your home maintenance budget.

Single Family Homes vs. Condos and Townhouses
Depending on the type of home you live in, your maintenance budget may look different. If you live in a condo or a townhouse, you are constantly paying maintenance fees to your HOA. This monthly payment means that you don’t have to worry about saving money for large external repairs and maintenance. However, you should still make sure that you are saving for internal repairs.

If you live in a single family home, you have the luxury of not having an HOA payment every month. However, on the flip side, you will need to save for external repairs that may occur. Neither system is better than the other. With a single family home, you gain more freedom, but also more responsibility. With a condo or townhouse, other people take care of certain repairs for you, but it is more regulated and restrictive.

Your Home Maintenance Budget

There are a few different ways that people plan their home maintenance budgets. As a rule of thumb, you should set aside a minimum of 1% of your home’s value per year. However, depending on your climate, the age of your home, and the type of home you own, some people save as much as 4% per year for maintenance.

You can also decide to set aside money based on the size of your home. Some people choose to set aside $1 per square foot of the home annually. However, this does not take into account your location or other external factors, which can mean you may be saving less than you really need.

Conclusion

Most people try to set aside between 1% and 4% of their home’s budget per year for home maintenance. Depending on where you live, the style of your home, and other factors, these numbers may look different. It is always a good idea to have a home maintenance savings for any expected or unexpected repairs.