Home Maintenance Calculator
Size a yearly home upkeep reserve from home value, age and square footage.
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Your numbers
Size the upkeep fund
Your projection
Reserve $413 a month
2% of value
$8,000 / yr
$1 per square foot
$1,900 / yr
Blended annual target
$4,950
$1,950 to a full year.
Both rules of thumb are rough. A 20-year-old roof or furnace is a known bill with a date on it; price those separately in a sinking fund rather than hoping the percentage covers them.
About this tool
Method, assumptions, practical next steps, and limits.
The cost that never shows up on the listing
Roofs, water heaters, appliances and paint all wear out on a schedule. A monthly reserve turns those bills from emergencies into planned expenses.
How the calculation works
The value rule uses 1% for homes under 10 years old, 2% for 10 to 30 years and 3% beyond. The size rule is $1 per square foot. The target is the average of the two.
A $400,000 home aged 10 to 30 years suggests $8,000 a year by value. At 1,900 square feet, the size rule suggests $1,900. The blended target is $4,950 a year, or $412.50 a month.
Where the rules fail
Both are rough averages. A roof or furnace near the end of its life is a known bill: price it and save for it in a sinking fund. Condo owners pay part of this through association dues and special assessments.
