Whether you are planning to renovate your home for your personal enrichment or to increase its selling price, the thought is probably crossing your mind how much your investment will increase the value of your home. Hint: many home remodeling projects do not return the cost of the project in the value of the home. On the plus side, some home renovations aren’t incredibly costly and could be the very reason a buyer chooses to purchase your home. Here are a few remodeling projects that are likely to give you more bang of your buck:
- Low Hanging Fruit
Replacing old elements like doors and siding are generally recovered easily and fit into the tightest home remodeling budgets. Cost vs. Value reports on home renovations show that replacing the front door of your home gives you the highest return on your investment; in most cases, you can recover 98% of your investment when you replace the front door before selling. Worn out and unattractive siding can reduce the value of your home by 10%, while replacing it is a relatively simple and inexpensive home renovation project. - Kitchens and Baths
Another great project that you will most likely get you your money back from is updating the kitchen and bathrooms. Experts in the general contracting business say that kitchen and bathroom renovations generally add about 82% of the cost to the home’s value. Also, having an attractive kitchen and bathroom is often a big selling point to buyers.
When investing in kitchen and bath renovations, it is important to do a remodel scaled to the value of your home. If homes in your area are selling for $100,000, and you invest $80,000 in a premiere kitchen, it will be difficult to recover the $180,0000 you have invested. Many experts suggest investing 25% of the home’s value in the kitchen and 12% of the home’s value in the bathrooms. - Projects That Improve Curb Appeal
Having a home that is attractive from the street is one of the most important factors to home buyers. According to a survey conducted b the National Association of Realtors, 71% of potential buyers choose their homes based curb appeal. If you are not sure of what type of curb appeal projects to look into, consider that 90% of home buyers say that exterior lighting is an essential factor in a home, 83% of buyers wanted a patio, and 80% desired a nice front porch.
Conclusion
When you renovate your home, regardless of the project you decide on, it is important to have someone who knows what they’re doing on your side. Home renovations that are done poorly can damage the home’s structure and actually reduce the value of your home; projects that don’t meet renovation codes could result in costly fines or in extreme cases, you may have to remove the updates. Hiring general contractors from reputable companies who are licensed and insured will help you avoid a lot of hassles in the long run.
Are you planning to renovate your home? What updates are you planning to do? Please leave a comment with the details!
