7 Home Remodeling Projects to Tackle This Year
There are as many reasons to renovate a home as there are things you can do in your home. Whether you’re looking to turn an ordinary house into the home of your dreams, or if you want to boost the resale value and make a tidy profit, your options are many. In addition to the many ways to renovate paint and design, there are renovation ideas that are geared toward optimal return on investment (ROI).
One important thing to keep in mind is the fact that home maintenance is not home improvement. There are a lot of cheap “renovation” ideas going around that aren’t renovations at all, and that won’t improve the resale value of your home. Here we are concerned, first and foremost, with boosting ROI. The following ideas are true renovations that are designed to be affordable and to improve the value of your home.
7 Good Value Home Improvements for Maximum ROI
Each year, Remodeling Magazine puts out a cost vs. value report that lists and examines the most value-added remodeling projects and remodeling project types. Here are a few of the top ideas they report on, plus a few of our own that are popular here in Northern Delaware.
Manufactured Stone Veneer
Considered the best performing remodeling project, the manufactured stone veneer has a potential 95.6% value return on the cost of the project. It’s an excellent way to boost the durability of a home and goes great with a new deck. But most importantly, this is what might be called a “class adding” project. This is likely due to the fact that a stone veneer has a marble-like look and feel to it, which adds greatly to the perceived value, commonly referred to as “curb appeal.”
Garage Door Replacement
We mentioned garage door replacement in a recent blog post. This is due to the fact that it is a well-known, cost-effective way to enhance the look and feel of an entire home, and it’s a big value enhancer. According to Remodeling Magazine, replacing a garage door has an ROI of approximately 94%, making it a real top performer.
Kitchen Remodeling
The kitchen is arguably the heart of any home. It is a workspace, a living space, and so much more. When prospective home buyers look at a property, the one room that sways them most in either direction is the kitchen. According to this year’s estimates, kitchen renovations perform at an average of 77.6% ROI.
Vinyl Window Replacement
Finally, vinyl window replacements are another simple renovation idea that offers a good rate of return on investment with a 72.3% rate of return on the initial investment. It’s worth keeping in mind that adding vinyl window frames doesn’t just make them look and feel better, but they also improve the energy usage, reducing those monthly utility bills.
Paint Colors
If you keep up with home décor trends, then putting on a new paint job is an excellent way to improve resale value. It’s also an important part of building maintenance, so not only are you making your realtor’s job easier, but you’ll be protecting the home over the long term. There’s a lot of research on this topic, and experts can give you proven guidance on where to use certain colors. For example, painting a kitchen barn red will reduce the resale value of a home by as much as $2,311. Also, experts find that pink taupe painted walls in a living room can add 1.3% to the sale price of a home.
Kitchen & Bathroom
Many experienced homeowners know they need to refresh the kitchen and bathroom before selling. This is especially true if they have lived there for many years. According to Zillow’s cost/value report, a midrange bathroom remodeling returned 64% on the average investment. For upscale homes, the return was lower at around 56.6%. It has also been found that major kitchen remodeling jobs in midrange homes delivered a 58.6% return on investment on average. Major remodeling jobs returned 53.9% on average.
Simple Improvements Anyone Can Do
Of course, no remodeling job is complete without a few stylish touches- some of which are great things to do all by themselves. Put together two or more of these small, value-adding creative home improvements to give your home a quick refresh. Put them all together for a top to bottom home improvement that will impress.
Carved Corbels
Create a classy, coffee shop feel with carved wooden corbels beneath the bar, cabinets, and other strategic spots.
Evergreen Screen
Reduce dirt and dust ingress into your home by planting a solid screen of Italian Cypress or other evergreen trees to break the wind. It adds privacy, improves the yard, and boosts air quality.
Chandeliers
You’ll be surprised how much even a simple chandelier can improve the quality of the lighting in a room. The diffusion of light will be more even, and it feels luxurious.
Office Closet
If you’ve got an underutilized closet, it can be transformed into a daytime mini-office with shelves, a microcomputer, and a stowable folding chair.
Cabinets to Shelving
If you have kitchen cabinets that aren’t being used to their maximum potential, you could re-purpose some of them into shelves. Move candles into them and make the most of the added storage space.
Whether you’re looking to resell the home or continue living there, the most important return on your investment will be in the added comfort and enjoyment you experience while there. Keep an eye out for these and other renovation innovations that will turn your home improvement project into a real value-added solution.