ncbill
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I believe 1.5% is closer to the real cost...that's what I get dividing my annual HOA fee by the value of my home...and that covers all outside maintenance with the exception of capital projects like a new roof...we recently had a special assessment of ~$100/month spread over a few years for that.
Now, if you are doing all the outside work yourself (e.g. all mowing, landscaping, gutter cleaning, painting) then sure, you can get by with 1% or maybe even less.
Still, that won't last forever...my in-laws have lived in their modest ranch house for nearly 60 years and now that they're in their 80s aren't crazy enough to get up on a ladder to clean gutters...the only reason they can keep up with mowing the grass is that they already had a small tractor for their large backyard garden...but even that garden isn't so large anymore.
Now, if you are doing all the outside work yourself (e.g. all mowing, landscaping, gutter cleaning, painting) then sure, you can get by with 1% or maybe even less.
Still, that won't last forever...my in-laws have lived in their modest ranch house for nearly 60 years and now that they're in their 80s aren't crazy enough to get up on a ladder to clean gutters...the only reason they can keep up with mowing the grass is that they already had a small tractor for their large backyard garden...but even that garden isn't so large anymore.
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