home maintenance - learn from my mistakes

**ladytoysdream** · 01-19-2009, 07:00 AM

Actually it's not just the age of appliances, one also has to factor in the amount of usage.

Years ago. my hubby worked for a dairy farmer. We have 7 kids between us. Four were living with us then. Other 3 came and went during the week, and weekends. We averaged 3 loads of wash every day. When the washer needed parts, I can remember like it was yesterday.......the guy saying. " how many loads a day are you doing ??? You wore the machine out "

Our current house is just over 18 yrs old. We have replaced the gas stove, 2.5 yrs ago. The original we thought was okay was still working, but we fiqured it was borderline, and went ahead. The frig quit like 5 years ago. We replaced with a used unit. Which last summer, we thought it quit, and replaced it with a new unit to match the stove. Both are now black.
Hubby gave the used frig to the DIL whose father owns a used appliance store, and does repairs. He fixed the used frig we had, and sold it. One of the lines was frozen up.
The DIL told me that new refrigerators only last like 7 yrs because the factories put in small motors in them. Which makes them wear out quicker compared to older models.

The champion though is our freezer. Bought in 1973 and still running. We did buy a new freezer this last summer, and the old one is now our backup unit.

Washer and dryer are getting some age on them, but I fiqure only averaging 1 load a day, we should be fine for awhile yet.

**Sonnenwende** · 01-19-2009, 12:26 PM

This thread is the best argument against home ownership I have ever read. Not only is there mortgage, property taxes, insurance, but you have to put a near mortgage payment away a month for repairs. Aiayayai.

**Greebo** · 01-19-2009, 12:32 PM

Well of course how much you should plan to put away varies by age of home, age of contents of home, and so forth. If it all hits you at once, its a huge amount. On the other hand, if you save 1-2% a month for 5 years with no major issues, then when the rain does come, it won't be such a big deal.

**ladykemma2** · 01-19-2009, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by Sonnenwende

This thread is the best argument against home ownership I have ever read. Not only is there mortgage, property taxes, insurance, but you have to put a near mortgage payment away a month for repairs. Aiayayai.

a lot of people buy a house and don't keep them up. they are the ones who are surprised when the home needs a new roof or something. it's like no one told them that a roof lasts about 10-20 years and has a finite lifetime and wears out, like a pair of shoes.

There is a law of physics called the law of entropy. It's the nature of things to fall apart. It takes energy to put or keep things in order.
sometimes the energy takes the form of dollars to pay someone to do it or to buy the material to put it to order or the literal energy to do it yourself.

or you can pay your energy to someone else to borrow their structure. Either way, you are expending energy to have a place to live. the law of entropy is just as active in the rented structures as the owned structures.

with home ownership, at least you have an asset you can sell. rent is just pissed away. I bought this home for 70,000. 15 years later it is worth 120,000 if I sold it.

edited to add: actually paid more than 70,000 if you include the interest on the loan.

**brenda67** · 01-19-2009, 02:19 PM

Thanks for the input.. We will be putting money away for any home repairs in the near future..One thing I'm thankful for is and will "Save" us alot of money in regards to labor/repair is my hubby..he can fix and repair just about anything...When the time comes for a new roof to be replaced all we'll have to do is pay for supply's..Since we just purchased our (first) 45yr old home this past October(we are not living in our home yet until all the remodeling/upgrading is finished..it's taking longer then expected since my dh is the only one working on it after his 40hr a week job) my Dh did a total inspection of this house (luckily we know the person whom owned the home and allowed us to see the inside of the house several times before the purchase
)before we decided to sign our lifes away to what would needed to be replaced/upgraded or repaired...nothing so far has been a major problem.. we did purchased a good quality energy efficient dishwasher and will do the same for a new fridge and a new stove...we do have the other appliances for backup that will be stored in our garage just in case money is tight..we also purchased the newest model water tank (the one in the house is very old and constantly running...can you say a waste of water/electric))..Dh decided (last week)it was a smart move to purchase a water filter system that's a $500.00 purchase that was unexpected and we will purchase this in the next month or so.. this will save us alot of money in the long run for our appliances since hard water buildup is really harsh on everything it touches.. Did you know that your skin absorbs anything it comes in contact with?? I know some people that swear hard water ruins there hair and also gives some of them skin reactions to the hard water from taking a shower/bath.. Anyway, I'm going to love not having to scrub the hard water stains from my sinks/toilets and bathtub and especially not having my dh having to (he get's really upset when he has to do this living here in our trailer for 10yrs it has happened at least 10 times) scrape all the crap from the bottom of the water heater because the element's burned out from all the lime buildup.. not to mention dh several times had to scrape/clean something inside the washing machine so the water would run freely verses a little stream again due to hard water buildup.. We will be doing alot of upgrading to our home throughout the year that will hopefully save us from having any major repairs/expenses....I look forward to any
tip's on this subject..

**imagine** · 01-19-2009, 02:37 PM

Originally Posted by Greebo

The formula I use on investment properties:
New - 5 years: 5%
5 - 15 years: 10%
15+ years: 20%

That is 5, 10 or 20% of the rental income goes to a "maintenance" fund. Now these are somewhat higher, because on average, renters tend not to be too careful about properties.

So if you cut those #s in half and apply them to your mortgage, annually, well, on a 100,000 house that's 2,500, 5,000 or 10,000, based on its age, to put aside for maintenance issues.

Which is about right to my thinking - a 15 year old home is starting to get on the "need new major appliances" list - like furnace, a/c, water heater, etc.

So is 15+ for all houses over 15 years. Would you save the same for a 16 year old house as you would a 100 year old house?

In 7 short years my house will be 100 years old.

**familyof3** · 01-19-2009, 04:04 PM

Originally Posted by imagine

So is 15+ for all houses over 15 years. Would you save the same for a 16 year old house as you would a 100 year old house?

In 7 short years my house will be 100 years old.

I was thinking about this too. Our house was built in the 1920s.
The one thought I had though is that in a properly maintained older home, many things have been replaced/remodeled over the years. In my house, there are no mechanical systems that are original. In fact, the only original features are cosmetic-wood floors, plaster walls, etc. So I think (for the most part) I would treat them the same.

**MandiDawn** · 01-19-2009, 05:03 PM

I've been saving $200/month for household stuff for years now. We are remodeling our entire house (almost done!!) and it's nice to look at the bank account, say we have $XXX amount in there, what project can we do?
Plus, it covers anything that goes wrong. Furnace needs repair, well, we have the money.
I get it taken directly out of my paycheck, don't even miss it. (this is seperate from our EF also)

**Sonnenwende** · 01-19-2009, 06:58 PM

Originally Posted by ladykemma2

with home ownership, at least you have an asset you can sell. rent is just pissed away. I bought this home for 70,000. 15 years later it is worth 120,000 if I sold it.

Well, so is money spend on interest payments, insurance that is more than my rental insurance, property taxes, maintenance and repair. With renting, that is none of my concern. I have more freedom to do what I want with that other money that would be 'pissed away'.

In addition, I have no idea what sense it makes to buy in an economy where no one works for anyone company for 20-30 years anymore. Most people have no job security. The economy tanks and they are stuck with a house they can't sell, like what is happening now.