Cabin cost split calculator
Put in what the place costs to keep for a year and how many nights each owner used it. You get three ways to divide the bill side by side, with what each owner ends up paying per night, so the family can argue about the method once instead of about the money every spring.
It opens on the lake house from our three siblings post. Change any number and the results update as you type.
Even split
The fixed bills in equal shares, whoever comes up.
- Sibling who lives nearby$4,400$146.67 a night
- Sibling across the country$4,400$440 a night
- Sibling with small kids$4,400$220 a night
Split by nights used
The fixed bills in proportion to nights booked.
- Sibling who lives nearby$6,600$220 a night
- Sibling across the country$2,200$220 a night
- Sibling with small kids$4,400$220 a night
Even split plus a nightly charge
Equal shares of the fixed bills, plus the nightly charge for each night booked.
- Sibling who lives nearby$5,000$166.67 a night
- Sibling across the country$4,600$460 a night
- Sibling with small kids$4,800$240 a night
The example, worked through
The assumptions: a paid-off lake house worth about $300,000 that costs $13,200 a year to keep (tax, insurance, utilities left on, opening and closing, mowing and plowing, and a repair fund of 1% of its value). Three siblings own it equally. This year one came up for 30 nights, one for 10 and one for 20. The nightly charge is $20.
- Each sibling on an even split
- $4,400
- What that is per night for the one who came 10 nights
- $440
- The gap between the 30-night and 10-night sibling with a $20 charge
- $400
On an even split every sibling pays $4,400, which is fine until somebody divides by nights. The sibling who lives nearby is paying about $147 a night, and the one across the country $440. That gap is usually what starts the conversation.
Splitting by nights swings it too far the other way: $6,600, $2,200 and $4,400. Now the far sibling keeps a third of a $300,000 house for $2,200 a year, and the near one is paying for the roof as if it were theirs alone.
The middle road keeps the even $4,400 and adds $20 for each night booked, so the bills come to $5,000, $4,600 and $4,800. The $1,200 of nightly money goes into the shared account for propane and power. Everyone pays the same to own the place, and each pays a bit more for using it.
Where the night counts come from
Every method but the first needs to know who stayed how many nights, and most families work that out from memory in December. AllDibs keeps the count for you. The house goes on one calendar, each family gets a budget of weekend and midweek nights, overlapping stays are turned away, and the running total of nights per family is right there when the bills come due. See how the cabin calendar works, or read the rules for sharing a vacation home that go with it.
Questions about splitting the costs
Which split is the fair one?+
For owners, usually the third. Tax, insurance and the repair fund protect something every owner holds an equal share of, so those get split evenly even in a year somebody never comes. What a visit uses up is different, and a nightly charge puts that cost on whoever stayed. A pure split by nights suits a house where one person owns it and the others are really paying guests, but among equal owners it means the one who moved away pays next to nothing to keep a third of the house.
How do we pick the nightly charge?+
Add up last year's propane, electricity above the off-season baseline, firewood and cleaning supplies, and divide by the nights anyone stayed. For most family places that lands somewhere near $20. It only has to be close. If it comes out too high, the extra builds up in the shared account and goes toward next year's fixed bills, which nobody minds.
What if one owner does the opening, closing or mowing?+
Price the work and take it off their share. If opening and closing would cost $1,200 to hire out, the owner who does it pays $1,200 less that year. Change the fixed cost figure here to see what everyone else owes, then subtract the credit from that one owner by hand.
Does this cover renting the place out?+
No. Rental income brings in tax rules that depend on where the house is and how many days it is rented, and splitting it among owners is a question for an accountant. This calculator only divides what the house costs the family to keep, and it is not tax or legal advice.
Let the calendar count the nights
Add the house, set each family's nights, and share one link. It takes a few minutes and there is no card to enter.
Put the house on AllDibs, free