Free tool · budget season
Apartment capital improvement budget calculator
How do you budget for apartment capital improvement projects?
Budget capital improvements by unit count and building age: list the projects coming due — roof, HVAC, parking lot, unit turns — apply a per-unit cost range to each, and total the low and high. For a 100-unit community, a multi-year capital plan commonly runs into the low-to-mid seven figures. Then replace the ranges with real bids before you commit.
Check the capital projects you're planning for the community. Per-unit costs scale with your unit count; amenity items are community-wide.
Envelope
Systems
Interiors
Site & amenities
Planning budget · 4 projects · 100 units
$740,000 – $1,690,000
≈ $7,400–$16,900 per unit · rough reserve ≈ $25–$56/unit/mo over 25 yrs
A budget is only as good as the bids behind it.
These are planning ranges to size your reserve and capital budget — not quotes. When you collect real bids for these projects, upload them to BidsScores: it normalizes them to one scope, prices what each leaves out, and gives you the true cost — so the number you budgeted still holds when the work starts.
Score your bids freeRanges are general planning estimates for garden and mid-rise apartments and vary widely by region, building age, and condition. Not construction, engineering, or financial advice, and not a substitute for a reserve study or real contractor bids.
Budget by unit, not by guess
Capital planning for an apartment community comes down to two things: which projects are coming due, and what each one costs at your scale. Pricing per unit makes both tractable — a roof, an HVAC changeout, or a unit renovation has a fairly predictable per-door range, so once you know your unit count you can size a whole capital plan quickly.
Then close the gap between planned and real
A planning range gets budget season done, but the money is committed on the actual bids. That's where budgets get blown: the low bid looks like it fits the line you budgeted, then the excluded scope comes back as change orders. When you collect real bids for these projects, run them through BidsScores — it normalizes them to one scope, prices what each leaves out, and ranks them on true cost, so the number holds.
Common questions
How much should an apartment community budget for capital improvements?
- It depends on unit count, age, and which systems are due, but a useful way to size it is per unit: roofs run roughly $1,500–$4,000 per unit, HVAC $4,500–$8,000, exterior paint $600–$1,400, and full unit renovations $6,000–$18,000. Add the projects you're planning, multiply by units, and total the low and high.
What capital projects should an apartment budget include?
- Group them into envelope (roof, siding, paint, windows, balconies), systems (HVAC, water heaters, repipe, electrical), interiors (unit renovations, flooring, appliances), and site and amenities (parking-lot asphalt, pool, clubhouse, fitness center, landscaping). Budget the ones whose lifespan is running out first.
How do I build a reserve budget for an apartment community?
- Total the capital projects coming due over your planning horizon, then spread that total across the years to get an annual reserve contribution — often expressed per unit per month. A reserve study does this rigorously; a per-unit range gets you a defensible starting number for budget season.
Are these cost ranges a quote?
- No. They are order-of-magnitude planning ranges for garden and mid-rise apartments and vary widely by region, building age, and condition. Use them to size the budget, then collect real contractor bids and check them on true cost before committing the money.