Ahhh! Spring is in the air! While temps here in Arizona are below normal, the trees are still budding, the flowers are blooming and seasonal allergies are setting in! Spring has also become synonymous with Spring Cleaning! Maybe you joined us on our 30-day Challenge last year that took on small projects throughout the house daily. This year we are focusing on some of the housekeeping tasks that often get overlooked or just downright ignored! In the hustle and bustle of daily life, we often adopt the adage “If it’s not broken, why fix it!”
While this can serve us well in some circumstances, it does not generally pan out very well when it comes to home maintenance. So, throughout the month we will be bringing you some quick tips and tricks, to do checklists and maybe even some discount offers for some needed services from our
Partners We Love. Join us in showing your home some love and your pocketbook as well as regular maintenance far outweighs the cost of substantial repairs or replacement from lack of maintenance. To get you started on your journey,
follow us on Instagram to get our Spring Home Maintenance Checklist.
So, how much should you budget on an annual basis for home maintenance? This can vary drastically on several factors, including geographical location and how much impact your home receives from weather and the elements, the availability of service providers in your area if there is enough competition to keep the prices competitive, and the age of the home. Age can have a significant impact on maintenance costs and needs. Below is a chart that shows the average annual cost of maintenance by decade as a percent of home value.
But there are a few ways to find a general estimate to determine how much you should set aside for regular maintenance and repairs for your home:
- The 1% Rule: Calculate one percent of the total purchase price of your home to determine how much to set aside. Example: For a $600,000 home, you would set aside $6,000 annually or $500 per month.
- The Square Foot Rule: Set aside one dollar for every square foot of your home. Example: For a 2,400 house, you would set aside $2,400 or $200 per month.
- The 10% Rule: Calculate all of your main monthly expenses (mortgage, taxes, insurance) and set aside 10% of this. Example: If your mortgage is $3,000/month, taxes $200/month, and insurance $150/month (a total of $3,350), your budget for home maintenance would be roughly $268 per month or $3,213 a year.
As discussed above, many factors will impact how much you will want to plan on saving. Additionally, if you know you have an older HVAC system or roof, it is good to start saving up for these large ticket items over time so it is not so overwhelming when the time comes to replace them.
If you are extra ambitious, we will also be diving into the home renovations and improvements that bring the best return. So often we see clients make all of the major improvements to their homes right before they get ready to sell. They had good intentions of doing all sorts of wonderful things when the glow of first moving in was still shining bright. But that light tends to fade fast for most of us. But you should get to enjoy the fruits of your labor and not just endure them as a means to an end to get top value for your home! And remember, we have a treasure chest full of amazing vendors that we are happy to refer to you so feel free to reach out with all of your housing needs!
