Maintenance Reserve Calculator
The maintenance bill is the most underestimated number in rental ownership. Set a monthly reserve that keeps surprises from becoming emergencies. Enter your property details to compare three standard reserve methods, get a recommended monthly target, and see your big-ticket risk flags. This is a planning estimate — not financial advice.
The property
Current market value, not purchase price.
Age of the building, not how long you've owned it.
Single-family = 1.
Total finished living area, for the $1-per-sq-ft rule.
Big-ticket systems (optional)
Leave blank if unknown. Typical asphalt-shingle life: ~25 years.
Leave blank if unknown. Typical furnace/AC life: ~18 years.
How to read the results
- 1%-of-value rule: set aside 1% of the property's value per year. Simple and widely quoted, but it over-reserves for brand-new builds and under-reserves for century-old houses.
- $1-per-sq-ft rule: $1 per square foot per year. Good for comparing properties of different sizes; ignores age and value entirely.
- Age-adjusted formula: starts at 0.5% of value per year for a brand-new building and rises 0.025% per year of age (capped at 1.75% at age 50+), adjusted by property type — condos reserve less (the HOA covers the exterior), multifamily reserves a bit more.
- Recommended reserve is the highest of the three methods. Reserves are cheap insurance — the expensive outcome is a $12,000 roof with $0 set aside.
- Big-ticket flags compare your roof and HVAC ages against typical lifespans so you can plan for replacements instead of reacting to them.