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The Water Heater Went Out in October and I Wasn't Ready — Here's What Changed After That

Photo by VJ Von Art (@vjvonart_art)

It was a Friday evening in mid-October. The leaves were doing their thing — that particular shade of copper and rust that makes everything feel a little slower, a little more deliberate. I had guests checking in the next morning, a full weekend booked, and then I got the call. The water heater was done. Not struggling. Done.

I handled it. But I handled it in that frantic, card-on-the-table, figure-it-out-as-you-go kind of way that leaves you a little shaky afterward. The plumber wasn't cheap, the timing was worse, and I sat down that Sunday night and thought: I cannot keep doing it like this.

That was the moment I got serious about a maintenance budget. Not a vague "set money aside" intention — an actual, written-out, looked-at-regularly system.

What I do now is pretty simple. I keep a running tracker where I log every property expense as it happens — repairs, supplies, seasonal fixes, the random things you never see coming. I also keep a forward-looking section where I note what I think will need attention in the next three to six months. Gutters before winter. The deck stain that's been peeling since July. The bathroom exhaust fan that sounds like it's thinking about quitting.

Writing it down does something. It takes the anxiety out of the abstract and puts it somewhere manageable. I can look at the list and make a real decision about what to prioritize instead of just hoping nothing breaks at the wrong time.

For the tracking side of things, I use my own Short-Term Rental Expense Tracker from my shop. I designed it because I wanted something that worked for the actual texture of hosting — not a generic spreadsheet built for a different kind of business. It has a place for everything: routine maintenance, unexpected repairs, seasonal costs. When October rolls around now, I'm not caught off guard. I already know what's coming because I've been tracking it.

The general rule I've landed on — and I think it holds up — is setting aside somewhere between one and three percent of the property's value each year specifically for maintenance. Some years you won't need all of it. Other years a water heater will die on a Friday night. The point is that the money is already there when it happens, and you're not making a stressed financial decision in the middle of a booking weekend.

I also keep a separate, smaller cushion just for the truly unexpected. Not maintenance I can anticipate — the stuff that just happens. A guest accidentally damages something. A storm takes out a fence panel. A pipe decides October is a good time to develop a personality. That fund has saved me more times than I can count, and having it feels a little like grace — like the provision was already there before I knew I'd need it.

If you're just starting out with this, I'd say start with whatever number feels slightly uncomfortable. A little stretch in the budget now means a lot less scrambling later. And get it written down somewhere you'll actually look at it. That part matters more than which system you use.

October is a good time to do this, actually. The busy summer stretch is behind you, the holidays are coming, and there's something about the season that naturally invites a kind of reckoning — a look at what's working and what needs tending. I find myself doing this every fall without even planning to.

The water heater situation was stressful. I'm glad it happened when it did, honestly, because it made me build something better. Now when something breaks — and something always breaks — I'm ready for it.

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