We just bought a house and are having some things fixed that weren't caught on our inspection. So far we are up to $4,000. 
How much have you spent on home maintenance?
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Hmm... Last year (2nd year in house) we replaced our roof, but we knew that we were replacing it from inspection and got some money from the seller for it.
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Yikes, that sucks! What counts as maintenance? We've spent almost nothing on replacing stuff, but have shelled out some cash for upgrading a few things and for the deductible after a flooding accident. We've been in our house for 7 years though and we still definitely have spent way less than $4K, that is not fun.
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We've done some upgrades. Moved in on November. New fence that day ($4800), repainted kitchen cabinets ($2700) waiting on painting of the house ($1600, happening first week of sept) and trying to decide on counter tops for the kitchen which will be a few thousand. So we've spent quite a bit but none of it was required. Except the fence I guess!
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We spent about $1,200 when we first moved in doing some general things and stuff the inspection caught (upgrading a fuse box, adding light fixtures, replacing the ceiling of a porch)
Within the first year, the only two major things we had to spend money on were a broken dryer knob and a new water heater. Both of which cost $300 (plus labor for the water heater).
Did you or your realtor pick the inspection company? Either way, I'd let your realtor know how much they missed so that they don't recommend that company again.
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Not a lot; but we bought our home as a good-quality new build and have only been here 3.5 years. My answer would likely be different for an older home; as was the case for our older condo where the previous owner had done a bunch of DIY work instead of hiring out and with so much DIY, turns out watching YouTube doesn’t turn you into an experienced tradesperson. (I’m not bitter or anything lol)
The only large maintenance item we’ve had to do (outside of stuff we *wanted* to do) was that we got mold in our basement which cost about $3k to treat and remove. That was a fun find! So, it's a good bit of money but only 1 thing "wrong" so far.
We’ve had a couple of minor appliance repairs too, but well under $1k for those all together.
We also installed AC and had a porch railing built, which was about $9k, but again, those were all optional.
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Close to $2,000 grand in A/C maintenance. That's the only major thing I can think of in 2 years of owning the home. But the house is only 9 years old, so we would expect things to be in good shape!
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In defense of older homes, ours is more than 40 years old. But we could tell it was well cared for and I think that's led to having fewer issues.
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We just bought a house and inspection revealed it'll need a new roof in 2 to 3 years. Sellers refused to give us any credit since it didn't actually fail inspection. So going in we know we will have to spend $7 to $9k in a few years, but we got such a good deal on the house that we are ok with it.
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5k for new gutters, 1k on water heater, 2k on fridge, 500-1000 on exterior paint and supplies (at least that's better than 10k to hire someone to paint), 2k on a leaky chimney repair.
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We have replaced the water heater in our condo, but we knew that when we bought it. Our washing machine also died, which was unexpected. So a few thousand all together I think.
We just bought a much bigger house that is older and we are a little nervous for this kind of thing!
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We bought a 50 year old home, so we knew going in that while serviceable, some things would need to be upgraded.
We spent about $15,000 right off the bat, on painting, refinishing hardwoods, upgrading electrical, putting up a partial fence to the street and replacing our oil tank.
Then we spent about $5,000 on the laundry/mudroom, including appliances, another $7,000 to replace the front walk and about $3,000 to replace the kitchen appliances.
In the next 3 years we will need to replace the roof (12k), AC compressor and some ductwork (20k) and paint the exterior (TBD).
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We've had our house about 4.5 years. The big things we've done were to install a ceiling fan in one bathroom that previously only had a window ($500), add insulation to our attic ($2,500), replace the roof ($16,500, but seller gave us a $5k credit when we purchased based on the inspection -- we all knew the roof would have to be done soon), and replace the fence ($2,500). We also had to replace a part on our furnace, but my dad was able to install it so it wasn't that expensive (maybe $125-150 for the part?). Other than these things, it has mostly been small cosmetic things, knock on wood, but of course even those add up over time. What we've spent is still less than 10% of the increase in our home's FMV since we bought it, though, so overall it has been a good investment so far.
In the future, we're looking at some serious landscaping in our front yard, new kitchen cabinets and appliances, a semi-gut job in one bathroom, and eventually upgrading the heating and electrical systems. So probably a good $75-100k of work left to do, but it will be stretched out over the next 8-10 years and the ROI would be pretty high if we were to sell.
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We've been in our house for 6 years (and actually putting it up next week to sell) and the only money we've put into it is paint and winterizing our sprinkler system. Otherwise we've been very lucky with just very minor issues. It's a newer home though, so that helps.
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Hmm. We've been our house for one year and no issues, but it was brand new. We're having the furnace services next month and a fence built right now but that's about it.
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We've been in our house 4 years. It's older, so we went in knowing it needed work. We've updated/improved:
Refinished floors- $4500
New oven and dishwasher- $1800
New furnace -$8000
New front steps and path $8000
Blow-in insulation (attic)- $2500We plan to get a fence, replace some pipes, and replace the roof next.
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Close to $40,000, but the home was priced to sell, and it was priced well. If we sold now, we'd make a profit. We: painted every surface, put in a half wall, remodeled the world's ugliest fireplace, replaced all light fixtures, replaced the roof, put new insulation in, a new electrical box, added two tons of dirt and sod to the backyard to install a play structure, installed a gas fireplace, replaced all flooring (some carpet, some hardwood, some linoleum), replaced kitchen countertops, and tops to vanities (vanities painted), and a few other small things.
In the next few years, we'll need to replace the water heater, furnace, and install A/C.
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@PurplePeony: So glad your sellers gave you a credit toward your roof! Our sellers are being so rigid. I mean I do get it but their responses are also kind of nasty so...
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A lot. To me maintence is much different than remodeling/updating. We bought a 3000 sq ft 1910 craftsman 4.5 years ago.
Maintenance
We have replaced the gutters
We contributed towards upgrading the furnace during the sale of our house
Apple trees corrected by arborist
Removed dying tree from property
Repaired dry rot on side deck (temp fix it needs to be replaced)Updated
2 bathroom gut jobs (there were issues with dry rot so kind of needed)
All new kitchen appliances including ss sink
Exterior and interior paint (including lead abatement)
Added a/c
Refinished over 1000 square ft wood floors
Molding repair and installation (we have plaster walls)Besides the kitchen nearly every surface has been replaced or improved but lots of it was optional. We still need to do the yard then we are 'done' we have spent over 100k and the yard/deck is going to be quite a bit too. needed improvements were about 10k and spread out.
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@mediagirl: Wow! It wasn't caught on inspection?
I've never been a home owner before but I would assume it's normal to gradually update your home. But, yeah, doing all of that when you first move in and not knowing about it. Though, I watch too much HGTV (haha), so I know somethings aren't seen until you start tearing down walls and stuff.
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@bluestriped bee: most of my home update and remodeling knowledge is from hgtv too. I'm going to be really disappointed with Jonathan and Drew don't show up to help with the renovation!
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In 4.5 years, we have replaced the roof ($1k thanks to insurance), repaired the furnace twice ($600), replaced the fridge and dishwasher ($1700), and DIY'd our landscaping/removed a few trees that were too close to the house. Next year we are replacing the carpet in the living room/hall/kitchen wth either hardwood or laminate, depending on price (kitchen is hardwood, but poorly done).
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@IRunForFun: in our state, there's some kind of rule about the roof being certified for at least 5 years -- I'm guessing it's a mortgage requirement but I honestly didn't look into it too closely. Anyway, the inspector basically said it was a close call, so it was a good bargaining point...but the seller was also the listing agent, so he was well aware that he was going to end up giving a roof credit.
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About $20,000 in the 5 years we've owned the house. This includes a brand new heating system, some new windows, part of a new roof, updating electrical, updating plumbing, new fencing and replacing broken appliances/fixtures. But, our house is nearly 100 years old and almost none of it was a surprise. When we saw the house, we knew it would need serious work and wrote a real lowball offer basically saying that we knew there were issues and we would not make an issue of any of those things during the inspection stage. The owners were happy with that idea and it ended up working out well for both sides. The money spent has added value to.the home, so we are ok with what we've spent.
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A bunch, but our home is from 1950 so nothing has been a big surprise. And we've also come across things that were not caught in the inspection over the years. I guess that's quite common, though.
But we really enjoy our home so it's all good!
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