Experts including those at HouseLogic.com say homeowners ideally should set aside one to three percent of the purchase price of their homes each year for ongoing maintenance—or whatever they can afford to set aside per month. That amounts to $2,000-$6,000 a year for a $200,000 home. However, a new survey from Erie Insurance conducted online by Harris Poll, shows 60 percent of Americans who own a house don't have a home maintenance fund, leaving a majority at risk for major financial problems in the event of needed repairs.
Replacing or repairing a roof, for example, is one of the biggest expenses a homeowner may have and often comes without warning. Nationally, the average homeowner spends about $6,600 to install a new roof but prices can soar upwards of $20,000 depending on the size of the roof, materials used, labor costs and more.
Even scarier, nearly one in four homeowners1 (23 percent) admits they never inspect their roof or have it inspected unless there is a problem. Nearly a third (27 percent) of those who own a house either mistakenly believe their insurance will pay for damage that occurs to their roof over time, such as through normal wear and tear, or they have no idea how their insurance works when it comes to this type of roof damage.
"Our survey really highlights the need to educate consumers about the importance of regularly inspecting and maintaining their roofs," says Joe Vahey , vice president and product manager, Erie Insurance. "Otherwise they could face thousands of dollars in unexpected repair expenses which, unfortunately according to our survey, many homeowners aren't ready for."
Despite the lack of attention to some maintenance tasks, when asked to grade themselves on a scale of A (Excellent) to F (Failure) in terms of their own home maintenance habits, a majority (62 percent) graded themselves an A or a B. Just over one third (34 percent) said they were average (a C), and only 3 percent gave themselves a D. Less than 1 percent gave themselves a failing grade.
Homeowners also admitted to suffering some serious consequences from not maintaining their homes, with much of the damage related to water. When asked if their home was damaged due to lack of maintenance, answers included:
- "Yes, damage to walls and roof due to leakage from a roof that should have been replaced long before"
- "Yes, did not fix a dripping leak in the upstairs bathroom, ended up leaking into first floor"
- "Walls in bathroom dampened and falling apart because of leaky roof"
- "Dripping water in crawl space caused mold problem"
- "Mold in a wall due to unknown outside leak"
- "Water damage from improper plumbing repair"
- "Flooding in the basement due to sump pump malfunction"
The survey also included questions about other common home maintenance tasks that, if ignored, could end up causing big headaches and costing big bucks.