Annual home maintenance and landscaping budget

[Anonymous]

Just curious what others budget annually for home and landscaping maintenance, repairs, cleaning, etc. We thought we planned pretty well but were hit with one major unexpected home repair after another and had to dip into other savings. I know it's not going to be like this every year and I know there is a wide range based on size and age of your house but was curious how others budget for this.

Just for background, we're a family of four (and two dogs), 15yo 4500sf ft house on .5 acres in NoVA.

[Anonymous]

I don’t really do a lot of landscaping.

Conventional wisdom says you should budget 1% of your home’s value on maintenance and repairs per year.

[Anonymous]

We bought quite a bit below what we were qualified for because we knew that houses have costs beyond the price you pay initially.

We have owned our 60 year old house for 25 years now. We have put in about $250K over those 25 years (roof, HVAC, siding, driveway, gutters, bathroom renovations, appliances, flooring, basement, etc). There is always something. House is 2500 sq. ft. on a quarter acre lot. No additions. Just renovations, maintenance, updating, and hardscaping on the lot (and taking out trees, replanting trees, bushes, etc.).

My dad told me to never buy a house because they are "money pits". However, most of us have to live somewhere and living anywhere has costs.

[Anonymous]

We budget 1% of our home's purchase price ($800K) a year. In a typical year we spend about $3000 on landscaping and assorted repairs. We save the rest with a rough earmark for major expenses. Two years ago we replaced HVAC for $10K, that sort of thing. We don't rely on debt for big purchases. Currently saving for a large renovation so deferring some minor repairs that don't make sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t really do a lot of landscaping.

Conventional wisdom says you should budget 1% of your home’s value on maintenance and repairs per year.

+1. This! Once in a while I hire a random illegal to spread mulch, dig up a flower bed, etc. and pay them below minimum wage for a couple of days.. That's it.

[Anonymous]

I haven't spent anywhere near 1% of my house purchase price in the time I have lived here nor in any of the other houses I have lived in. I think that figure is geared towards LCOL areas with cheaper houses. For example, an appliance like a refrigerator costs the same everywhere but it will be a higher percentage of the home's value. Obviously labor costs more around here than a LCOL area so that bumps it up a bit.

[Anonymous]

We pay about $3000/year on landscaping, that includes weekly mowing by a company.

Interior maintenance/repairs are probably about $3000 per year on average (includes leaky faucets, hvac repairs, spreading out the cost of a new roof over time)

[Anonymous]

1/3 acre lot in Vienna. Spent $5,400 last year on lawn service etc. $1,400 of it was to remove a tree and other tree work.

Spent another $4,000 on general house maintenance Items. Most of that was to replace front entry steps and railing.

The big items are HVAC, roof and windows. High end heat pump two years ago was $14,000...

[Anonymous]

Thanks, all. We definitely went well over our 1% but, like I said, this past year was an anomaly with a lot going wrong at once. 1% going forward sounds about right and that’s what we will plan for. Anything remaining we can roll over for larger future projects.

[Anonymous]

Repairs are lumpy. Presumably very large expenses like HVAC and roof have the costs spread out over years.

I do my own landscaping because of multiple acres that is too costly to pay forca service. However I have 20k of lawn equipment.

[Anonymous]

Our house is a similar size but with smaller acerage and is older. We budget 1% of the home price for lawn, maintenance, and replacement of systems. Last year, we spent less than half that, but this year we will replace the gutters, fix part of the deck, and will refinish the wood floors, which will take us over the 1%. But, over the past 20 years of home ownership, my experience is that the costs average to about 1% per year, all in, including lawn and spring cleanup.

[Anonymous]

Agree with the 1% of the home value for maintenance (not renovations). That's roughly what it's been for us in multiple places over decades.