A survey commissioned by a home maintenance company with operations in Dallas found that homeowners spend almost $10,000 each year on repairs.
“Dallas’ extreme climate swings require homeowners to pay more attention to their HVAC systems compared to other cities to ensure they’re in good working order year-round,” Honey Homes‘ Dallas general manager, Jeff Gottschall, told The Dallas Express in an email. “In that same vein, we see a lot of minor repair needs for settling cracks — hot summers can cause the soil underneath homes to sink — while the moisture caused by our consistent rain and humidity can lead to wood rot on windows.”
With operations in Dallas and San Francisco, Honey Homes compiled responses from 1,000 homeowners from October 19 to October 20 through market research company OnePoll to show how they maintain their homes and the associated costs.
Among the findings, key takeaways include:
- Homeowners spend an average of $9,924 annually on upkeep, repairs, and maintenance.
- 74% of homeowners are more likely to search for new homes rather than invest in upkeep on their current homes, citing the expense of home maintenance as a factor in that decision.
- Homeowners have an average of nine tasks on their home to-do lists and procrastinate for four weeks to complete them.
- 42% of homeowners said they can’t complete the maintenance on their own, while 35% said their home upkeep is too difficult to manage.
The most common household tasks for which homeowners procrastinate include repairing loose or sticky cabinet drawers and doors, mounting wall items, patching walls or touching them up with paint, hanging mirrors or artwork, and assembling furniture, the study found.
“Gutter cleaning is another important one,” Gottschall said. “The storms we often get can quickly clog gutters with leaves, branches, and debris, which increases the risk of water pooling around the foundation of a home or damage to roof shingles.”
Beyond the costs of regular maintenance, homeowners must consider who to hire for some tasks.
The survey found that:
- 57% procrastinate on their home to-do lists because of the difficulty of finding trade workers.
- 42% who found and hired trade workers report they’ve been ghosted by them.
- 21% of homeowners are uncertain whether the trade workers they hire will deliver quality results.
“These ongoing maintenance and repair needs led Honey Homes to recently roll out Home Health, an always-on feature that puts home maintenance on autopilot to save homeowners time and money,” Gottschall said. “Further underscoring our commitment to replacing hassle with convenience, each Dallas member’s handyperson now documents the unique characteristics of their appliances and home systems in under 30 minutes. That is turned into a customized home maintenance plan, and when useful maintenance is needed, our handypeople will tackle it during their next appointment.”
Honey Homes is a membership-based service that provides dedicated handypeople to homeowners for maintenance and upkeep. Founded in 2021, it has completed more than 25,000 home tasks for over 1,000 members in Dallas and San Francisco, according to a news release.
