What do you do when their isn't enough money for house repairs?

2237 Views 25 Replies 19 Participants Last post by ladykemma2, Jul 23, 2008

my4littlebuffaloes

Discussion Starter · Jul 18, 2008

our house is 35 years old and I the people that lived here the whole time didn't do much to it. No updating at all (not necessary for us to live here) and bare minimum on upkeeping the essentials. So the roof has a leak over the garage and really needs to be replaced all over. It is the second layer and is pretty old. We had someone look at it and we were told it wouldn't last much longer and of course it has the leak.

The fireplace is extremely drafty, there is literally a cold breeze blowing through the den all winter. We keep a big moving blanket over it, which helps, but that room is so cold. We looked at getting a new damper that would seal it up perfectly and installed it will be $500. Dh wants to do it himself, but we don't have a big enough ladder to do it, so we would have to buy it, which brings the total back up to $500. But I would rather have a ladder than not, so it would still be better to do it ourselves rather than pay someone.

Then the driveway is a complete wreck. The kids can't really play on it it is so torn up and riding scooters is impossible and bikes is a little dangerous. The kids can (and do) literally pull up strips of the ashpalt. We are in the middle of getting estimates to replace it and of course the whole thing needs to be dug out and redone. The lady called and the city has a rule that if you do that you have to replace the drain pipe that runs under the driveway, which of course really adds to the expense.

So we have all these big expenses looming and virtually no money to cover them. What would you do? Pull some from the EF? We don't have enough to cover the roof and I don't know about the driveway. I do think that the driveway is the last priority here. I am just so frustrated with all the places that need our money and not enough money to go around. I am also sad because I had hoped to sign up my dd for gymnastics this year, $44 a month, not too much, but when we have so many other things that need our money I can't justify putting her in. But then I think well then we will never have the money for it all, so i might as well just sign her up. I guess I am just frustrated and a little depressed at the money situation right now. How do y'all handle times like this? Thanks!

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Greebo

· #21 · Jul 21, 2008

ladykemma2 said:
my two cents: don't forget a budget item for "home repairs and maintenance" . generally 1-5 percent of the value of your home.

my home is worth 110,000. i sock away 300 a month for home repair.

110,000 x 3% = 3300/12 = 275

Excellent point - and I'd say that the percentage should equal the age of your home, divided by 5.
1-5 Yrs Old: 1%
6-10: 2%
11-15: 3%
16-20: 4%
20+: 5%

Cause when that furnace dies in your 30 year old house, 1% probably won't cut it unless you have a $300,000 house.

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TheRootedNomad

· #22 · Jul 22, 2008

I'm sorry to hear that the wood is rotted. That is a bummer. Plywood has gotten pretty pricey and you will need to clear a bigger section to patch it.

As for the one guy not wanting to let you rip it, most of them probably will tell you no. Your looking for an older roofer who has a good word of mouth reputation in the area. My father was still roofing a couple of years ago (and still incredibly fast with the shingles) at 70. He could still rip them too if he had to but had always preferred to pay older teenagers (and early twentysomethings) to rip and load the roof so he could sheath and shingle. He took several jobs after he hit 50 where he let the homeowner rip. Several of the other guys we know in the line that "don't" go down to the corner for cheap "illegal immigrant" help will let the homeowner rip as well. Again word of mouth is probably a better bet than the yellow pages as far as finding a roofer goes.

....there's also always the possibility of DH finding someone else who has done a couple to give him a hand with starting and the trim and doing it himself. If you've got only a slight pitch (4/12) or so a handy guy can usually do it themselves if someone gets them started and does or shows them the edges and cutouts.

Hope some more of that is helpful.

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Wendy99

· #23 · Jul 23, 2008

Greebo said:
Excellent point - and I'd say that the percentage should equal the age of your home, divided by 5.
1-5 Yrs Old: 1%
6-10: 2%
11-15: 3%
16-20: 4%
20+: 5%

Cause when that furnace dies in your 30 year old house, 1% probably won't cut it unless you have a $300,000 house.

So is this the amount you would keep in a separate account for these expenses and then just top it up as necessary? I couldn't afford as much as is suggested here (although I agree with it!!). But I'll have to figure out something once we have a proper long term EF. Always something!!

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Greebo

· #24 · Jul 23, 2008

Wendy99 said:
So is this the amount you would keep in a separate account for these expenses and then just top it up as necessary? I couldn't afford as much as is suggested here (although I agree with it!!). But I'll have to figure out something once we have a proper long term EF. Always something!!

I dunno about those exact numbers - 5% on a 30 year old, 400k house is a LOT of money - 20 grand to be exact. That's in the "homeowners insurance should pay for THAT damage" range I'm thinking - or in the "this is renovation not repair" category.

The main point is - older homes need more love and care. Our specific goal for the home repair fund right now is $3,000 - putting about $150 per month towards it I think. (I've gotten up 3 times to look at our white board and I'm not getting up again!

)

As for affording it - just figure out how much you can sock away each month and do it. Put it in an account that earns interest with all the other sinking funds and forget its there and track the #'s on paper.

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ladykemma2

· #25 · Jul 23, 2008

Wendy99 said:
So is this the amount you would keep in a separate account for these expenses and then just top it up as necessary? I couldn't afford as much as is suggested here (although I agree with it!!). But I'll have to figure out something once we have a proper long term EF. Always something!!

no, it's part of your budget now, unless you are in snowball mode.

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ladykemma2

· #26 · Jul 23, 2008

Greebo said:
I dunno about those exact numbers - 5% on a 30 year old, 400k house is a LOT of money - 20 grand to be exact. That's in the "homeowners insurance should pay for THAT damage" range I'm thinking - or in the "this is renovation not repair" category.

The main point is - older homes need more love and care. Our specific goal for the home repair fund right now is $3,000 - putting about $150 per month towards it I think. (I've gotten up 3 times to look at our white board and I'm not getting up again! )

As for affording it - just figure out how much you can sock away each month and do it. Put it in an account that earns interest with all the other sinking funds and forget its there and track the #'s on paper.

i agree that 20 grand is too much.

i do not agree that insurance should pay for it. it seems something breaks or falls off daily or all the appliances broke ths year. these are not insurance issues. my home needed a new roof and paint recently, again, not insurance issues.

righ now i have been forewarned that the a/c is on its last legs. this 5-10k expense is not an insurance issue.

i figure if i have 10 grand it's enough, by end of next year, then i will start funding for a new car.

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