How much do you spend on a house maintenance each year?

[SleepySlug]

I see many rentals that have been left with no maintenance

But for those that do regular things like painting and roofing and things like that

how much do you think a house costs to maintain per year

say a 3 bed weatherboard?

[Beano]

I see many rentals that have been left with no maintenance

But for those that do regular things like painting and roofing and things like that

how much do you think a house costs to maintain per year

say a 3 bed weatherboard?

9pc of rental i spend on r and m

[SleepySlug]

9pc of rental i spend on r and m

Thank you!

[Learning]

A while ago I heard that it costs an average of around 5% of a property's value each year to maintenain and keep it from decaying. That was before the ballooning prices of the last couple years, but with the increasing costs involved probably still not far wrong.

[Nick G]

5-10%, of rental for older properties, depending on rents and if you did a big renovation you're off the hook for a while usually - although things tend to break down. You don't need to have a "maintenance" fund per se, just make sure that when the time comes you have enough cash or equity to do what you need. A revolving credit facility will see you right.

[Bobsyouruncle]

If you're not DIY'ing it the above numbers can be a bit light if you take a long term view. We have had rentals since 2003 and in the early days I would put $1000 a year for maintenance.
14 years on we know we average closer to 4K a year than $1000. This is to allow for things like roofs, leaks, required upgrades etc. Smaller units cost us around $2500 a year over time.

[johnnyandtina]

Well, it costs about 15% of total rental income.

[flyernzl]

The main thing is to have a bucket of money (a revolving credit or similar) available on-call for when something major strikes. A leaky roof or similar.
The last thing you want is a house that is costing you money every day to own and that is unrentable.

Last time I looked I spent $41,000 on R&M on 12 houses in one year. Admittedly that included 10K on one renovation, but in the longer term you have to allow for that anyway.

[Learning]

5-10%, of rental for older properties, depending on rents and if you did a big renovation you're off the hook for a while usually - although things tend to break down. You don't need to have a "maintenance" fund per se, just make sure that when the time comes you have enough cash or equity to do what you need. A revolving credit facility will see you right.

5-10% might be ok for an average year but it'll catch you out regularly.

30-50 years - roof, windows, doors, decking, railings, plumbing fixtures and electrics, carpets.
5-15 years - Internal and exterior repaint, oven, hot water cylinders, heaters, replacement locks.

All that's on top of the year by year ware and tear. Of course these can be called renovations but if you haven't factored them in long term they'll bite you in the butt when they decide to fail when you're not ready.

[Nick G]

Yeah you're probably right. My rentals are high income ($1.4K pw and $1.9K pw on the current two that I've kept) so 5% of rent for me is plenty.

[Wayne]

last year (tax year) was 7%

[Viking]

Just replaced a hot water cylinder with a wet back. cost $2k and a fireplace (different house) $4k. some roof paints to door and am wondering what that will cost.
Having the houses Chemwashed is costing more than it did a year back.

Plumbers are acting like highway men all over again and sparkies not far behind. Odd job men not wanting that work now as better work around. It will get worse this year.

Only good thing is that rents are still on the up and Rodney Dickens reckons that there is a 10% upside in values through most of the provinces this year.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11777995

Personally i wonder how some of my tenants can afford it but they still seem to. Must be wwf the keeps them afloat. They still have the latest phones and cars and party away.

[Aston]

Only good thing is that rents are still on the up

Personally i wonder how some of my tenants can afford it but they still seem to.

Does any landlord with a social conscience really care about that? As Viking says, it's the only good thing that seems to happen to him.

My rents haven't gone up, I may lift them slightly in 2018.

[Rosco]

.
14 years on we know we average closer to 4K a year than $1000. This is to allow for things like roofs, leaks, required upgrades etc. .

From hundred's of clients over the last 12 plus years, I would agree with the above for older rentals.

For a new house, you can spend very low for the first 10 years, like $1,000 or less. But after 10 years you slowly need to do things.

Brick can also mean less painting costs, so could reduce this a bit.

Ross

[FJW]

Hi Sleepy Slug

Good post, depends on the age, calibre of the property etc.

The following routine maintenance programs I advocate for though

a) External house / gutter / roof wash

b) Heat pump service

c) HRV / DVS Service

d) Any trees / bushes that overhang roofs to be pruned back

You should also do certain improvements that will reduce maintenance costs and use hard wearing / durable materials as well