Home Maintenance Costs

If you’re a homeowner or want to be, you better be prepared to maintain it. Whether you bought a brand-new property or a fixer-upper, you’re going to have to deal with maintenance at one point or another. Repair and maintenance tasks should be handled before an issue gets out of hand, but we all know that life happens. In a recent survey from Financebuzz, it was discovered that homeowners are putting off repairs, citing finances as the main reason. In fact, 76% of homeowners surveyed have money set aside for repairs but still can’t afford the costs of home maintenance.

The survey interviewed 1,000 homeowners on how they maintain their properties. Financebuzz asked questions about the time it takes to handle repairs and how much homeowners think common maintenance projects cost. The results are relatable.

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Most Homeowners Are Putting Off Repairs

It’s not just you—three in five homeowners are avoiding a necessary repair or maintenance project in their home. Of those homeowners surveyed, 25% are putting off repairs, while 27% are putting off maintenance. Almost half (48%) are putting off both.

The top three maintenance projects that homeowners are avoiding are weeding the lawn, cleaning gutters, and trimming bushes or trees. When it comes to repairs, most homeowners put off any work on the roof, windows, and plumbing.

Why are homeowners putting off these necessary maintenance and repair projects? The main reason, with 60% of those surveyed saying so, is the cost. Other top reasons include lack of time, can’t find trustworthy help, fear of finding out costs, and not knowing how to start.

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So, how much does it cost?

According to Financebuzz, homeowners believe they will need an average of $5,650 to complete all of the home maintenance and repair tasks on their lists. That cost is slightly less than 2.5 times the average monthly cost of a mortgage in the United States. Forty-one percent of homeowners believe that paying for repairs could have been avoided if they had been more proactive about maintaining and upkeeping their homes.