Maintenance fund maths, repair cost estimates, insurance rebuild checks, renovation budgets and honest upkeep guides — type your homeowner question and get a straight answer in seconds, with real numbers you can act on. The full detailed report costs less than a coffee: $2.95.
The 1% rule — set aside 1% of your home's value every year for upkeep — is a useful starting point that most advice repeats without checking whether it fits your house. This calculator does the checking: it takes your home's value, its real age and an honest read of its condition, then adjusts the rate across the range that actually matches experience — roughly 0.7% for a young home in good shape up to 1.5% or more for an older home with original systems. You get an annual figure, the monthly amount to automate, and a 10-year view, because maintenance arrives in lumps, not in smooth monthly bills. The verdict tells you plainly where your home sits on that range and why.
Work out a realistic annual maintenance reserve for your home — the classic 1% rule adjusted honestly for the age and condition of your house, with monthly and 10-year figures.
No — it is an average starting point, not a law. Newer homes often run below 1% of value a year while older homes with original roofs and mechanicals routinely need more. This calculator adjusts the rate for age and condition, which is the honest version of the rule.
Because two homes of the same age can need very different upkeep: one that has been maintained and partly renewed costs less to run than one with original everything that has been neglected. Age sets the baseline; condition moves the rate up or down.
Somewhere accessible but slightly out of reach — a separate savings account earns a little interest while keeping the money distinct from general savings. The separation matters: if the roof money is mixed with holiday money, the holiday usually wins.
Every tool answers instantly from our own knowledge and calculators — no AI wait, no account. Honest maths and plain guidance, always educational and never alarmist: homes are built to be lived in, and these tools exist to keep yours safe, efficient and affordable — not to scare you into spending. Results are estimates and reflections, not appraisals or prescriptions, and nothing you type is stored. Want the deeper, personalised version? Each has a $2.95 full report.