heartosunshine Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I saw this on a commercial last night. We spend more than that and our house is not what I'd call a "fixer-upper". It seems like something is always breaking & needing repair beyond what my handy hubby can do. We've had some major expenditures recently like new air conditioner/furnace & now the roof (although roof should be covered under insurance due to hail/wind damage but there's still the deductible). But, also, in the 6 years we've lived here, there's been a good amount of repairs that requires a constant stream of money. I'm curious what others experience. Is this a good guideline? Do you budget/spend more or less? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moxie Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 NO! We've spent a lot more than that already this year. We had brick work done on our chimney that cost what that dollar amount would be and that was just one repair! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 We bought our house new 10 years ago. We haven't spent anywhere close to that, not even 1/4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 We spend more than that, maybe twice as much; our house is 30 years old. When we had a new house we spent less, maybe half that amount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Depends on what counts as "maintenance," but that seems low to me too. Ours isn't a fixer upper either, but it is 50 years old. Things snowball when you start fixing or replacing or updating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 We have had to spend more than that. The house is ~30 years old. I could see that figure for a new house that is not going to need the expensive stuff--roofing, new HVAC, replacing appliances that die, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Our home is 50ish years old. We've lived here 10ish years. For us, saving that amount for repairs would make sense. That amount would cover what we've done in ten years with a cushion. The main thing to me is saving that amount because major things cost more than that. However, averaged out it works for our situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Why don't you people have warranties? Spending $400 a year on a warranty has saved us thousands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I think that's a decent guideline. Some years we need more maintenance, other years we need less - so it would even out. We generally spend quite a bit in cosmetic stuff and upgrades, but those don't count, right? We are talking general maintenance, things that must be done... So I'd say that would work for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartosunshine Posted June 19, 2014 Author Share Posted June 19, 2014 It looks like the age of the house has a lot to do with it. Ours is 40 years old. Why don't you people have warranties? Spending $400 a year on a warranty has saved us thousands. Can you buy a warranty on an older house? It wasn't offered to us so I have no idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistiDelaney Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Ours is between 50 and 120 years old, depending on the part of the house you're talking about. We don't spend that much on maintenance. Then again the house was refurbished before we bought it ten years ago, so maybe it's only 10 years old? ;) We have had expensive years - the year that the dishwasher, the stove, the washer *and* the drier all broke down, for instance - but on average we spend maybe half that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Warranty on a nineteenth century house? I don't think so. We spend more than the quoted amount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Why don't you people have warranties? Spending $400 a year on a warranty has saved us thousands. We had a warranty the first year since it was required for our purchase. But it didn't cover any of the big expenses (roof, new HVAC, etc.) so we decided not to renew it. I don't see any point in spending $500 or whatever for basically worthless coverage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 It looks like the age of the house has a lot to do with it. Ours is 40 years old. Can you buy a warranty on an older house? It wasn't offered to us so I have no idea. Our house was built in 1958. I really don't know that much about them, other than that ours was awesome. We had a warranty the first year since it was required for our purchase. But it didn't cover any of the big expenses (roof, new HVAC, etc.) so we decided not to renew it. I don't see any point in spending $500 or whatever for basically worthless coverage. That's crap. I'm sorry you had that experience. We had over $10,000 in water damage which only cost us a $100 co-pay. Our new hot water heater was covered too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I bought our house in '97, that was a fixer-upper. I bought it for its price new in '76. I knew that immediately, I would need a new roof, paint the interior, new carpets and the backyard needed to be leveled. I don't think I've spent anywhere near $1/sq.ft/year since those were done. During that time I completely redid the kitchen, one bathroom except the tub, new fence, new A/C, new electrical box, installed a yard sprinkler system, tankless water heater, new windows, replaced the exterior doors. Probably some other stuff I forgot. None of that except for the water heater, A/C and kitchen cabinets were done on an emergency basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Age and quality of build matter a lot. I am sure the $1/sq foot idea is just to get people thinking/saving. It isn't some set in stone thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heatherwith4 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Our house was built in the 50s, I think. We've lived here just over 2 years. Yeah, we have spent waaaaaaaaay more than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moxie Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Why don't you people have warranties? Spending $400 a year on a warranty has saved us thousands. Are you talking about the thing you can buy when you buy a house?? Our first home came with a warranty and it was pretty much a joke. No way would I ever spend money on one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 No way! We have less than 1100sf and have been here 9 years. House is 20 years old. $10k wouldn't cut it and we still have thousands in work on the project list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwallowTail Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I think generally, if you put aside at least that much, then over time, you will be glad you did. I don't know if it would be sufficient though especailly not if you have roof or other major things thqta need replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom23Boys Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 We have been in our house for 4 years. It is 30ish years old. The only things that have needed to be done was a new roof after a hailstorm and a toilet replaced. We paid $800 for the roof, insurance paid the rest and whatever a new toilet cost. My DH installed it. We have spent more on cosmetic stuff that we wanted done, but none of that was needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari C in SC Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Ummm... Not even close. Way too high for me. We own 8 rental properties that equal about 16000 square feet when you include our rental home. We have times that are more expensive or times when we choose to upgrade things, but we still don't come close to spending $16000 on maintenance and repairs. To break it down for just our personal home, I would say we have spent a few hundred dollars this year for 2600 square feet. Now, eventually, we will redo bathrooms little by little so we might hit $2600 in those years, but they don't have to be updated. It is a cosmetic thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarinesWife Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 We have 2100 sq ft and we spent about $500. There are definitely more things to do but really it's all cosmetic. WE did buy the home warranty and we have renewed for another year. It has fixed our pool pump, garage door ($700), dryer ($300), and I have a list of things that I am going to call about - mostly having to do with appliances. I just don't want to pay the deductible more than once a month unless I have to. Because of all the things ours covers we decided to keep it one more year .. we feel that we still don't know enough about the house. Barely used our heater .. that kind of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Some friends of mine have been in their house two years. They've used the warranty so much that they cannot get it renewed for a third year. Not everyone CAN get a home warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroe1 Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 I need more than that a year here in south Florida. We have more exposure to salt air, mold, and mildew than most of the country, however. Plus, I include landscaping like dead bush replacement, pool equipment maintenance, and power washing outside as maintenance costs. Some people may not think those things should be included. I need to replace lanai cushions because of mold and I would include that in maintenance as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Seems reasonable to me, but only if the maintenance has been kept up over the long term. Maybe 1.50 would be better. I think the thing is that many home owners neglect things a looong time. If you buy a $200,000 house new (or close to new) and don't spend more than an occasional $200 for a decade, then all that deferred maintenance catches up in the second and third decade of the home. For a 15-25 year old house, it could easily be 2-3 per sf per year for a decade to catch up. Just a roof can easily be 5 or 6/sf (or higher), and all new HVAC can likewise be really high. I think it also depends on the quality of original materials and workmanship. If high quality construction is done in the first place, things can last a long time without requiring repair let alone replacement. For instance, copper pipe instead of plastic, cement board siding instead of low end vinyl, wood windows instead of vinyl, higher durability/cost HVAC and water heaters, real tile on real cement board (instead of plastic tub/shower), architectural shingle or metal roofing instead of the cheapest fiberglass ones available . . . I know folks in "new" houses who are spending probably 3/sf each year to deal with basement leaks, screwy windows, etc . . .all things that could/should have been avoided with higher quality materials and professional workmanship . . . but the entire subdivision was built by a builder that makes things look superficially nice while using the cheapest materials and methods and WORKERS available . . . so all the houses have constant issues starting soon after move in and never letting up! Our house is 21 years old, and I'd guess that maintenance costs so far have been much lower than 1/sf per year, as we've hardly spent anything (maybe $200/yr on an occasional plumbing repair or a screen replacement and one cracked window . . .) the 6 years we've owned it (probably more like 10c/sf/yr), but it was well maintained before we bought it, and it was pretty well constructed in the first place, and we deferred a few things in the past couple years since we were anticipating tearing out all the flooring/siding/roofing right now when we did this big addition thing (no point in replacing one room's floor a year ago since we knew we would refloor the entire house right now). If we counted up the "deferred maintenance" stuff we are doing right now, it probably wouldn't add up to more than the 1/sf/yr over the 6 years all averaged out, unless you included optional stuff like fancier appliances and high end flooring (replacing stuff that was serviceable but we don't like). We're doing a huge addition/remodel right now, and we are putting in loads of new windows, but we didn't even bother to replace the handful of windows that aren't impacted by the renovations because they are nice quality Andersen wood windows, and so far as we can tell, they are in as good shape as when they were installed 21 years ago. No need to replace them, as they work and look just fine. Compare that to the cheap vinyl windows that go into much new construction, which often need to be replaced in a decade or so and often have serious problems in just a few years! We plan to stay in this house for a long time, and so we are spending "extra" now for good quality construction so that we don't need to replace things sooner rather than later. Most houses are not built that well in the first place, and then deferred maintenance adds to that problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Ummm... Not even close. Way too high for me. We own 8 rental properties that equal about 16000 square feet when you include our rental home. We have times that are more expensive or times when we choose to upgrade things, but we still don't come close to spending $16000 on maintenance and repairs. To break it down for just our personal home, I would say we have spent a few hundred dollars this year for 2600 square feet. Now, eventually, we will redo bathrooms little by little so we might hit $2600 in those years, but they don't have to be updated. It is a cosmetic thing. I would guess that points to another issue . . . how much people can and will DIY vs. hire out. Dh and I are pretty handy, and we also find it more convenient to DIY than call in a pro for minor things. If folks pay service professionals to do every little thing, then they'll hit that maintenance amount a lot easier than those who can/will DIY for many things. Plus, if you are handy, you are likely to both see and address things while they are easier and cheaper to fix. Dh has fixed several appliances himself over the years. I think we've only hired someone to repair an appliance two or three times in our 20+ years of home ownership. Likewise, minor plumbing, drywall, electrical stuff is always DIY, and we never pay anyone to paint. And we shop carefully and use sales for expensive things like major repainting projects. If I paid retail and/or hired everything out, I bet we would have spent 5x what we have on true maintenance projects. Many things can be fixed in an hour and a $5 part that could have cost us hundreds if we'd called someone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 High Quality probably does explain a lot. I noticed very early that the highest quality materials easily available was often only a little bit more expensive. So, I generally went with the nicest. DH is/was a handyman, and he brings home stories of egregious things he has seen from the original builder. He will look into things like "The master shower has always drained slow", and he will find that the drain is clogged with grout. And that is a premier builder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 130+ year old house. $$$$$$$$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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