10/18/2018
Home Maintenance is not cheap. Projects piling up for several years? Consider using the equity in your home to get the home back in shape or just freshen it up. From full remodel to simply painting home maintenance repairs can really revitalize your home and lift your spirits.
The 1 Percent Rule of Thumb
One popular rule of thumb says that one percent of the purchase price of your home should be set aside each year for ongoing maintenance. For example, if your home cost $300,000, you should budget $3,000 per year for maintenance.
That doesn’t mean you’ll spend $3,000 every year. It just means that, on average, over a span of a long time period (10 years or more), you’ll spend around $3,000 annually, according to this rule of thumb. Some years you’ll spend far more; a roof replacement, for instance, might cost $6,000 to $10,000 or more. Other years, you’ll spend far less.
Of course, this popular rule of thumb has its limitations. Your market timing doesn’t impact your maintenance budget. If you happened to buy your home at the peak of the housing bubble, your maintenance costs won’t skyrocket. Similarly, if you bought your home at a steep discount at the bottom of the housing market, your maintenance budget shouldn’t be affected.
The underlying price of your home and its repair costs, in other words, are independent variables. They correlate only insofar as they’re both impacted by the cost of labor and materials in your particular geographic area.
