Property Holding Cost Calculator

An unsold property is not idle, it is expensive. Interest accrues, taxes and insurance keep falling due, utilities have to stay connected for viewings, and the garden and decoration still need maintaining. None of it feels like a cost of selling, because the bills look identical to the ones you paid while living there.

Adding them up turns a vague sense that the sale is dragging into a number you can weigh against a price reduction or a different agent.

What is counted

Mortgage interest plus property tax, insurance, utilities and standing charges, and maintenance. Mortgage principal is deliberately excluded — it reduces what you owe rather than disappearing, so counting it would overstate the true cost of waiting.

Worked example

Interest of 1,400 a month, 250 of property tax, 90 of insurance, 120 of utilities and 100 of maintenance is 1,960 a month — about 64 a day. Five months on the market costs 9,800, which on a 400,000 property is roughly 2.5% of the price quietly spent while waiting.

Using the number

Set it against the reduction that would bring a buyer forward. If a month of holding costs more than the difference between two offers, taking the lower offer now is usually the better outcome — and it removes the risk that the market moves against you meanwhile.

Frequently asked questions