Tool
What Your House Actually Costs You
Not the mortgage. The rest of it — the roof fund, the HVAC fund, the pool guy, the Saturdays. Priced honestly, in dollars and in hours.
Estimated annual upkeep
$11,730
Per month
$978
Next ten years
$117,302
Hours of your life per year
123 hrs
Based on the standard one-percent-of-value planning rule, adjusted for age, size, and high-maintenance features. Insurance, taxes, and HOA dues are separate.
Questions
The Cost Of Staying
How much should I budget for home maintenance each year?
The common planning rule is one percent of the home's value per year, averaged over time. Older homes, larger homes, pools, and acreage push that higher — a thirty-year-old 3,500-square-foot house with a pool often runs closer to 1.4%.
Does a smaller home really cost less to maintain?
Yes, and not only in dollars. Fewer roof squares, less HVAC tonnage, smaller water heaters, less exterior paint, and less landscape all scale down. The hours you spend managing it scale down with them, which is usually the saving people feel first.
What are the biggest hidden costs of staying in a large family home?
Deferred systems replacement — roof, HVAC, water heater, fencing, and windows — plus rising insurance, property tax on a higher value, and the opportunity cost of equity sitting idle instead of producing income.
Your next chapter
Buy Back Your Saturdays
Schedule your Right Size Strategy Session and we'll map your equity, your timeline, and the life you want on the other side of it.