How much should you really budget for home maintenance? Enter your details and find out, plus see what deferred maintenance could cost you.
HomePlaybook Mastery gives you every maintenance task, every season, in the order they prevent real damage, so you know exactly what to do and when, before small problems become $0 emergencies.
Get HomePlaybook Mastery: $44 →How we calculate: Based on the widely-used 1% Rule (budget ~1% of home value annually for maintenance), adjusted for your home's age, climate zone, specific systems, and current maintenance level. Deferred maintenance estimates reflect industry data on compounding repair costs when routine maintenance is neglected over 3–5 years. Figures are estimates only and may vary based on local conditions, material costs, and individual circumstances.
Most experts recommend budgeting 1–2% of your home's value each year for maintenance. For the median US home valued around $400,000, that's $4,000–$8,000 per year, or roughly $330–$670 per month. Homes in harsh climates, older properties, and homes with additional systems like pools or central HVAC will sit at the higher end of this range.
The real cost of home maintenance isn't the maintenance itself. It's what happens when you don't do it. A $200 annual furnace service prevents a $5,000 HVAC replacement. A $150 gutter clean prevents $3,000–$5,000 in water damage. A $250 pest inspection prevents $8,000–$30,000+ in termite damage. Deferred maintenance compounds: every year of neglect doesn't just add one year's cost. It multiplies it.
This calculator uses the 1% Rule as a baseline, then adjusts for your specific situation: home age, climate, systems, and current maintenance habits, to give you a personalised estimate of what your home costs to maintain, and what you're risking by deferring it.
The 1% Rule is a simple budgeting guideline: set aside approximately 1% of your home's current market value each year for maintenance and repairs. A $350,000 home needs about $3,500 per year. Newer homes in mild climates may need less; older homes in harsh climates may need 2–3%.
The costliest failures from deferred maintenance include roof replacement ($8,000–$15,000), HVAC system replacement ($5,000–$12,000), foundation repair ($5,000–$30,000), water damage remediation ($3,000–$10,000), and termite damage repair ($3,000–$30,000+). Most of these are preventable with routine maintenance costing a fraction of the repair.