Author Topic: Budgeting home maintenance, taxes, so on?  (Read 7080 times)

Finances_With_Purpose

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Budgeting home maintenance, taxes, so on?
« on: August 04, 2017, 09:29:53 AM »
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« Last Edit: December 23, 2021, 10:44:57 PM by Finances_With_Purpose »

NeonPegasus

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Re: Budgeting home maintenance, taxes, so on?
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2017, 01:02:03 PM »
I keep it simple and estimate 1% of home value/year. That's a rule of thumb I picked up when I got into real estate investing. So, for a $300k home, I'd set aside $3k/yr, which is $250/mo. If the house is over 20-30 years old, I'd factor more for maintenance. For instance, a 100 year old house is simply going to require more maintenance than a 5 year old one.

Things that cost a lot - a new roof, new siding, new furnace/HVAC, a root growing into your plumbing, new windows.

I just save for all of this in a Betterment account with a 90/10 stock/bonds split so it'll grow until I need it. If possible, in addition to those monthly savings, I'd pay for all small things out of your regular cash flow. Use the savings only for things that are super expensive (e.g. we spent $13k on windows last year).

Advice - before buying a home, make a list of the most expensive things to fix (I'm sure there are lists out there) and pay close attention to all of those items. If the roof only has 5 years left on it, for example, you need to factor in that you'll be paying $10k pretty soon.

Roots&Wings

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Re: Budgeting home maintenance, taxes, so on?
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2017, 03:23:28 PM »
I also budget 1% purchase price annually for maintenance/repairs. You may potentially have years of no issues, and one year of massive issues. Be prepared.

What do I wish I'd known before buying my first place?

- Only buy if it makes sense financially to do so instead of rent (or if you feel your quality of life will improve so much to make it worth the cost hit); if the property doesn't pass rent vs buy calculator, fully realize the tradeoffs you will be making
- Buy much less house than you can technically afford. The mortgage, property taxes, and insurance are only part of the costs of ownership.
- Don't romanticize home ownership or buy into the HGTV/realtor industry crap that glosses over the downsides
- There's nothing wrong with long-term renting. Even for homebodies this can work out if you find a nice place. Maybe consider a more home-like rental where you could try out maintaining the yard, or doing more of what your wife is missing.
- Buy only if you plan to stay put long term (like 10+ years); transaction costs to resell are huge and you may not recoup on a short time frame.
- Maintaining a house/yard yourself takes time. If you don't have time or enjoy DIY and yard work, be prepared to spend $$ to have someone else do this. Yard service, pest control, exterior painting, etc, it all adds up.

I don't understand your taxes question. If you mean that property taxes in your area are expected to skyrocket, that would be a huge negative.

Roots&Wings

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Re: Budgeting home maintenance, taxes, so on?
« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2017, 07:13:42 AM »
Yep, if the fridge dies, or dryer stops working, that's all in the home maintenance category for me.

Ladychips

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Re: Budgeting home maintenance, taxes, so on?
« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2017, 08:08:54 AM »
  My wife is a homebody and derives great pleasure from having her own special home. 

Perhaps your wife would enjoy learning/doing the DIY stuff.  Between youtube and home depot type stores, there are plenty of ways for her to learn.  That would take the (unwanted) pressure off of you and maybe give her even more pleasure from her home. 

NeonPegasus

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Re: Budgeting home maintenance, taxes, so on?
« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2017, 03:41:47 PM »
I keep it simple and estimate 1% of home value/year. That's a rule of thumb I picked up when I got into real estate investing. So, for a $300k home, I'd set aside $3k/yr, which is $250/mo. If the house is over 20-30 years old, I'd factor more for maintenance. For instance, a 100 year old house is simply going to require more maintenance than a 5 year old one.

Things that cost a lot - a new roof, new siding, new furnace/HVAC, a root growing into your plumbing, new windows.

I just save for all of this in a Betterment account with a 90/10 stock/bonds split so it'll grow until I need it. If possible, in addition to those monthly savings, I'd pay for all small things out of your regular cash flow. Use the savings only for things that are super expensive (e.g. we spent $13k on windows last year).

Advice - before buying a home, make a list of the most expensive things to fix (I'm sure there are lists out there) and pay close attention to all of those items. If the roof only has 5 years left on it, for example, you need to factor in that you'll be paying $10k pretty soon.

Speaking of investing, have you put down your thoughts anywhere here on the forum?  Would be curious how that's worked out and whether you'd recommend it...

Like investing in general? Or real estate investing? If it's the former, I don't do anything special that everyone else doesn't do. If it's the latter, definitely get advice from someone else. I'm still a newbie and suffering newbie mistakes as I go. ;)


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NeonPegasus

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Re: Budgeting home maintenance, taxes, so on?
« Reply #6 on: August 05, 2017, 03:42:55 PM »
Oh, and does maintenance for you guys include things like appliances: oven, fridge, whatnot?  I assume so, but if not, would want to know.

It is really up to you. I tend to have enough cash on hand to pay for $1000 fridge or other appliance so I save my stash for the really painful repairs.


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NeonPegasus

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Re: Budgeting home maintenance, taxes, so on?
« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2017, 03:46:28 PM »
For those who already put money aside for maintenance - do you put this into a regular taxable account? Do you lump it in with the rest of your 'stache and just withdraw from it as required, or do you keep it separate so that it's easier for you to keep track of the different categories?

I'm only a few months in to budgeting and tracking what I spend and what I'm saving for. So far I haven't changed my savings pattern of automatic deductions from my chequing account to savings, which I then transfer to my direct investing accounts when there's a sizable enough lump. It works to keep the savings regular, but I don't track my assorted goals (car replacement, home maintenance, future income replacement stache) separately.

Are there any obvious problems with this approach?


I love having all sorts of different little nest eggs because that's how I think of the money. For instance, my savings for traveling are completely separate from my savings for home repairs and I want to make sure that I don't borrow from one nest egg to pay another.

This is why I still have my taxable account at Betterment. I love that I can add multiple goals for whatever I want to save for. I have them for travel, home repairs, each of my daughters' savings, school tuition savings, college savings, emergency savings, etc.

If keeping all of your savings together is working for you, I would keep doing it. I would make sure you save enough for an emergency and then continue making monthly savings for home maintenance.


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Goldielocks

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Re: Budgeting home maintenance, taxes, so on?
« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2017, 09:49:26 AM »
UMMM...  in my experience, it is not the maintenance stuff that gets you in the firs 5 years of owning the home.  Most maintenance items you can estimate after a good home inspection and build into your price model or you will know up front.  (huge differences in maintenance depending on the home, its construction, condition, and age).

What will be the largest cost is your small DIY home improvements...  curtains, closet shelving, new carpets, new kitchen or a new fridge?, garbage cans, sprinklers, paint, a light fixture or LED bulbs, tea towels, soil for the garden, lawnmower, a bit of furniture to fill out a room, etc. etc. etc.   These spike in the first 30 months of home ownership.   You can keep individual costs down, but it all adds up.

Once the move-in costs fell off, we began having kids, and it started up all over again. (Nursery, backyard fence, playstructure, etc).  I only realized all of this, when we moved to a rental when our youngest was 4 years old, and our expenses per year dropped considerably and I realized it was all the little house DIY improvements that had gone away.


My wife is a homebody and derives great pleasure from having her own special home, even if it's Mustachian in proportion and cost. 


Laura33

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Re: Budgeting home maintenance, taxes, so on?
« Reply #9 on: August 06, 2017, 10:36:53 AM »
So the best advice I have is to get the best home inspection you can -- pick the guy known as the deal-killer, not because you want to kill the deal, but because you want to know what you're in for.  Focus especially on the systems -- plumbing, electric, HVAC can kill you with recurring costs and are massively expensive to replace as a whole.  Good foundation, newer roof, no obvious water damage in ceilings or basement, age/efficiency of windows, age/type/quality of insulation, etc.

Also look at the age of the appliances and compare to the typical appliance life span.  DH got really excited about one house that was only about 15 years old; he thought the newer age justified the higher price due to decreased maintenance expenses.  Then we did the math on all of the appliances and windows that had already outlived their expected lifespan, and it was shocking.  Most appliances only last 10-15 years, max.

Once you get the inspection, you can make your own list of expected costs/expenses over time, just like you would for car maintenance/replacement.  And don't forget to include the other normal carrying costs, like lawnmower and weed whacker and vacuums, fence/deck maintenance, periodic boiler maintenance, etc.  And, of course, those setup costs that Goldielocks mentioned -- when we bought our first house, we thought we'd have no immediate costs because it was brand new.  And then we moved in and realized there was not a single drape or blind in the whole thing!  That was $1800 (20 years ago) just for the cheap versions!

Schaefer Light

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Re: Budgeting home maintenance, taxes, so on?
« Reply #10 on: August 07, 2017, 06:25:15 AM »
5.  Estimated time spent on home ownership repairs/nonsense?  (This one is also something I'm factoring in: it strikes me that home ownership will cost me a lot of time, which is why I'm fine with continuing to rent.) 

I think most of the financial topics have been covered, so I wanted to chime in to say that I spend way more time on yard maintenance (mainly in the form of mowing the grass) than I do on house maintenance.

Laura33

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Re: Budgeting home maintenance, taxes, so on?
« Reply #11 on: August 07, 2017, 01:22:46 PM »
So the best advice I have is to get the best home inspection you can -- pick the guy known as the deal-killer, not because you want to kill the deal, but because you want to know what you're in for.  Focus especially on the systems -- plumbing, electric, HVAC can kill you with recurring costs and are massively expensive to replace as a whole.  Good foundation, newer roof, no obvious water damage in ceilings or basement, age/efficiency of windows, age/type/quality of insulation, etc.

Also look at the age of the appliances and compare to the typical appliance life span.  DH got really excited about one house that was only about 15 years old; he thought the newer age justified the higher price due to decreased maintenance expenses.  Then we did the math on all of the appliances and windows that had already outlived their expected lifespan, and it was shocking.  Most appliances only last 10-15 years, max.

Once you get the inspection, you can make your own list of expected costs/expenses over time, just like you would for car maintenance/replacement.  And don't forget to include the other normal carrying costs, like lawnmower and weed whacker and vacuums, fence/deck maintenance, periodic boiler maintenance, etc.  And, of course, those setup costs that Goldielocks mentioned -- when we bought our first house, we thought we'd have no immediate costs because it was brand new.  And then we moved in and realized there was not a single drape or blind in the whole thing!  That was $1800 (20 years ago) just for the cheap versions!

Such a great point.  I'm obviously a novice, but it strikes me that the biz is set up so that the incentives don't help you when it comes to things like appraisals, inspections, and whatnot.  My guess is inspectors mostly work for and are referred by lenders, brokers, and others who only make $$$ if the inspections come out roses...which means it's probably hard to find a great inspector.

It is, yes, but we had one.  I think what you do is talk to your agent that directly:  who is the most thorough, detail-oriented inpector they know?  But explain very directly that you are not actually looking to kill the deal (i.e., their commission is not at risk!) -- it's just that you are just a planner, and so you want as much detail on future repairs/costs as possible.  Also ask friends/neighbors what their experiences were with their inspectors; if you know anyone in the building trade in the area, they may also know of people. 

chaskavitch

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Re: Budgeting home maintenance, taxes, so on?
« Reply #12 on: August 08, 2017, 07:43:02 AM »
We spend (what I find to be) hideous amounts of money on our house, but it is mostly DIY upgrades.  DH loves to tinker and have projects, and is way more ok spending money than I am, so in the 4.5 years we've lived here, we have:

Puprchased a new washer, dryer, and fridge when we moved in
Built a chicken coop
Installed a raised base and tile under our washer/dryer, and a laminate countertop over them
Painted a lot of rooms
Installed new light fixtures in 3 rooms
Installed a (gifted) Nest thermostat (which required re-wiring the connections, because the previous owner jerry-rigged, like, EVERYTHING)
Replaced the plumbing under our kitchen sink when it overflowed
Replaced the plumbing to our garage sink when it overflowed
Replaced 3 of our toilets with low-flow toilets (we did get a nice rebate for this one)
Epoxied our garage floor
Built shelves in our garage
Tore out those shelves and built hanging shelves in our garage
Blew insulation into our attic
Replaced a too-deep pantry cabinet with drawers instead
Built two separate iterations of raised garden beds
Installed a drip system for our garden
Ripped up our backyard and installed sod, paving stones, border stones, and gravel
Installed a sprinkler system in said backyard while it was deconstructed
Built a railing and bench on our deck
Built a little greenhouse for DH's bonsai trees and our garden seedlings
Replaced our roof and gutters (still paying that one off on a 0% interest cc)
Ripped up our bedroom - This one is still in progress. We started off saying "let's take down this ugly wallpaper and paint", and it turned into tearing out and replacing the floor, tile, the cast iron tub, sinks, counter, carpet, and wall color.  And upgrading to a King bed.
Purchased a multitude of tools - lawn mower, weed whacker, paint brushes and rollers and drop cloths and pans, air compressor, nail gun, brad gun, staple gun, paint sprayer, miter saw, scroll saw, literally a metric ton of nails and screws

We throw a LOT of extra money at our house maintenance and improvement savings every month.  I do love that DH can do all of these projects, and I do generally appreciate the end result, but man, it makes me cringe when I think of the total cost.  I find sales and coupons and rebates wherever I can, but if you're going to do it, you may as well not cut corners and get a crappy end product.

We haven't had to replace any big appliances yet (AC, furnace, water heater), but I'm guessing they're reaching the end of their expected lifespan.  Most of the money we've spent has been on completely "unnecessary" upgrades.  The only necessary money we've spent was on the roof/gutters, plumbing replacement for sinks, and on getting a pipe replaced when it froze and exploded in our foundation after an unexpected early freeze. 

WSUCoug1994

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Re: Budgeting home maintenance, taxes, so on?
« Reply #13 on: August 08, 2017, 09:55:45 AM »
This is a pretty good list of what to expect time wise on a house - I stole it from another thread.....

http://www.atdhomeinspection.com/advice/average-product-life/

Goldielocks

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Re: Budgeting home maintenance, taxes, so on?
« Reply #14 on: August 09, 2017, 09:54:06 AM »
I am glad that you got a reference list for the life cycle items you were looking for.   I am still a bit amused that you are focusing so much on the lesser costs, and ignoring the elephant in the room, the BIG costs...


My wife is a homebody and derives great pleasure from having her own special home, even if it's Mustachian in proportion and cost. 



Chasavitch's post was awesome and a a very honest portrayal of what happens to most people who would make the above statement.   Go read it again.   What $'s are you going to plan for DIY and minor home improvements?  How can you ensure that you keep to that?

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!