How Do You Plan for Home Repair Costs?

[Retired To Win]

When you own your own home, you have to be ready for unexpected repair costs at any time. And sometimes that can get expensive. But home warranties have kept my repair costs way down and made it easier to get things fixed.* If any appliance or operating system (plumbing, electrical, etc) in my house fails, the warranty covers its repair or replacement minus a set $100 deductible. And the warranty company guarantees the service outfit’s work.

My annual cost for a home warranty policy has averaged around $500 and fit with no trouble into my $18,000 annual baseline budget**. Aside from the $100 per call deductible, I have been totally shielded from large repair or replacement bills.

Do you have a home warranty policy? If not, how do you plan ahead financially for major unexpected home repairs? And how do you make sure the work gets done right?

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*Home Warranties Work For Me:

http://retired-to-win.savingadvice.com/2014/04/02/home-warranties-work-for-me_108081/

**My $18K Annual Baseline Budget:

http://retired-to-win.savingadvice.com/2013/12/29/my-18k-annual-baseline-budget_106374/

[JoeP]

Assuming the repairs of which you speak are "emergencies" where the repair needs to be made, otherwise there would be a safety issue or major devaluation. Examples: furnace failure, water heater failure, leaky roof, garage door torsion spring, sump pump failure, fridge dies, washing machine or dryer dies. About 80% I can repair myself, so we save on labor. The funds come from our emergency fund, which we keep adding to every pay period.

[snafu]

We've never bought a new house with warranty. We've always set aside sums each month and built a fund that represented 1% of the value of various homes. [DH's employer moved us with every promotion] Every time the fund got to 1% of the value, I stopped adding to it. Over the years we've used the fund to have kitchen's updated, hot water tank replaced, insurance deductible for new roof, front door replaced, and fall 2012 replaced furnace in this condo. It's been a great way to track added value.

We not used the fund to buy paint or decor stuff and I've saved up to change out from carpet to hardwood to placate DH. I should have used it when I replaced all the tap sets a couple of years ago and bathrm light fixtures the following year. Coincidently I got a replacement CC in the mail today to replace a card about to expire. I've decided to designate it for Home Repair/Improvements since it's a 'cash back.' I'm finding designated CCs help me track line items. ooh I'm so lazy

[feh]

Do you have a home warranty policy? If not, how do you plan ahead financially for major unexpected home repairs? And how do you make sure the work gets done right?

No home warranty. Our emergency fund is really an "emergency and occasional large expenses" fund, and any repair or remodel money would come from our EF.