Home Maintenance Calculator
Build a yearly maintenance allowance from the home’s value and age. You can replace the age-based percent with your own.
Use it when you want an annual repair allowance from the home value and age you enter.
How much should I budget for home maintenance?
Compare scenarios
How we calculated this
The age bands use 1% a year under 10 years, 1.5% from 10 to 24 years, and 2% at 25 years or older. If you enter a rate, that rate replaces the age band. The dollar amount is home value times the rate.
What does this mean?
A practical planning budget is about $6,750.00 a year, or $562.50 a month. A new roof or HVAC system can exceed a single year of this allowance.
Your assumptions
Edit assumptions- Home value
- $450,000
- Home age
- 15 years
- Rate
- 1.50% from the age band
A percent of value is a budget, not a prediction of the next repair. A roof or a system replacement can exceed one year of this allowance.
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How the estimate is calculated
Homes under 10 years use 1% of value. Homes from 10 to 24 years use 1.5%. Homes 25 years or older use 2%.
If you type a custom rate, it replaces the age band. The page also shows the 1% and 2% dollar amounts for context.
Maintenance allowance
Annual budget = home value × rate. Monthly set-aside = annual budget ÷ 12.
Example
- Enter a current value.
- Enter the age of the structure, not how long you have owned it, if those differ.
- Leave the custom rate blank unless you already keep a different budget.
With the numbers filled in on this page, the estimate is $6,750.00.
What changes the result
Age bands
They are planning bands. A new roof on an old house can put you ahead of the band for a while.
Climate and systems
A pool, a septic system, or a harsh climate is not in the percent.
Projects versus repairs
A remodel is a project. This allowance is for keeping the house working.
Questions
What is the 1% rule?
A common shorthand is to set aside about 1% of the home’s value each year. Older homes in this tool use a higher percent.
Should I save it monthly?
The monthly line is the annual amount divided by 12, which is an easy way to fund it.
Does this include utilities?
No. Use the utility cost calculator for bills.