What does a holiday home really cost a year?

Beyond the purchase, a bach costs rates, insurance, maintenance, any mortgage interest, power and the travel to get there. Added up, the yearly cost is often far more than people expect, especially divided by the nights actually used.

How do I work out the cost per night used?

Add up the annual costs, then divide by the number of nights you actually stay. A bach used only a few weeks a year can work out very expensive per night compared with renting somewhere when you go.

Should I buy a bach or rent holidays?

If the cost per night used is far above what you would pay to rent a holiday place, renting may make more sense financially, though a bach offers ownership, familiarity and the chance to rent it out, which have their own value.

Holiday Home Cost Calculator

This calculator works out the true annual cost of owning a bach or holiday home in New Zealand, then shows what that really costs per night you actually stay there, a figure many owners never add up. You enter your yearly mortgage interest, rates, insurance, maintenance and power and other running costs, plus your travel cost per trip, how many trips you make and the nights you actually use the place each year. It adds the running costs to your total travel spend for the true annual cost, then divides that by nights used to give the cost per night used, alongside the total travel cost for the year. Because a bach used only a handful of weekends still carries a full year of rates, insurance and mortgage interest, the per-night figure is often far higher than owners expect, and it is the fairest way to compare owning against simply renting a holiday place whenever you go away. Use it to check whether keeping the bach still stacks up financially, whether more frequent use would justify the cost, or to have an honest conversation with family about selling, renting it out, or holding on. This is a cash-cost estimate only; it excludes the opportunity cost of tied-up equity and any rental income, so treat the result as indicative, not a precise figure for tax or investment decisions.

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Mortgage interest per year

Rates per year

Insurance per year

Maintenance per year

Power and other per year

Travel cost per trip

Trips per year

Nights used per year

true annual cost of the holiday home

Cost per night used$0

Travel for the year$0

This is the cash cost of holding and using the bach; it excludes the opportunity cost of the equity tied up and any rental income. Compare the cost per night with what renting a holiday place would cost. Estimate only.

How it works

The calculator adds your yearly costs, mortgage interest, rates, insurance, maintenance, power and other, plus the travel for all your trips, to give the true annual cost. It then divides that by the nights you actually use the bach to show the real cost per night. That per-night figure is the honest basis for comparing ownership against renting somewhere when you holiday, since a lightly used bach can be surprisingly expensive.

Worked example

With $18,000 interest, $2,800 rates, $2,200 insurance, $3,000 maintenance, $1,500 power and $1,200 of travel over 10 trips, the annual cost is about $28,700. Used for 40 nights a year, that is around $718 a night, which is a powerful figure to weigh against renting a holiday home instead.

Related calculators

Mortgage Repayment Calculator: repayments.
Property Portfolio Equity Calculator: equity across properties.
Travel Budget Calculator: holiday budgets.

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