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 New Zealand calculator works out the true annual cost of a bach or holiday home, including rates, insurance, maintenance, mortgage interest, power and the travel to get there. Divided by the nights you actually use it, the cost per night is often eye-opening. You enter your figures, and the tool shows the yearly total and the real cost per night, so you can compare owning against simply renting a place when you go away.

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.
Rental Yield Calculator: renting it out.
Travel Budget Calculator: holiday budgets.

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