By Michele Lerner / The Washington Post
Home maintenance and repairs are among the most unpredictable costs associated with homeownership.
The amount you can anticipate spending depends on the age and condition of your home, appliances and systems. In addition, the amount will vary according to where you live. It’s generally recommended to be prepared to spend 1 to 2 percent of your home value each year.
Now Porch, a site that matches homeowners and home-services providers, analyzed average maintenance costs in every ZIP code to determine where costs are highest and how people spend home-maintenance money in each area.
According to the site, the average annual home maintenance spending nationwide is about $16,000.
Washington came in above average at $16,304. The state with the highest annual spending is New Jersey at $18,151. The state with the lowest annual home maintenance is Mississippi at $14,890.
Following the Garden State, the cost of routine home maintenance was highest in Washington, D.C. ($18,119), Connecticut ($17,782) and Maryland ($17,699). On the other side of the white picket fence, after the Magnolia State, home maintenance was lowest in West Virginia ($15,068), Arkansas ($15,115) and Kentucky ($15,129).
Porch’s study also looked at some of the most expensive home-maintenance tasks and estimated how much you’d need to save and spend on those items. Among the most expensive are repairing a subfloor, caring for a swimming pool and repairing water damage.
Go to porch.com/resource/cost-of-home-maintenance-in-america for more information.
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