Renovating a house can be very expensive. If you’re renovating your home to make it more livable for you and your family, return on investment might not be your main consideration. In that case, go ahead and install a swimming pool, notorious for not paying for itself when a house is sold. However, if your goal is to sell your home in a few years and make money off of it, you need to consider where you spend your reno dollars carefully.
Some renovations have a much higher rate of return than others. Here are a few areas that you can focus on to increase the resale value of your home when it’s time to sell.
- Kitchens and bathrooms have always been a good investment because, well, let’s face it, women love a nice kitchen and a beautiful bathroom. You can expect to recover 75% to 100% of your investment in a bathroom or kitchen renovation. Of course, if the renovation is poorly designed or just plain hideous, you’re not going to get that much back. The other thing to remember is a $30,000 bathroom renovation in a house that’s only worth $100,000 isn’t going to make the house worth $130,000.
- Painting isn’t expensive, especially if you do it yourself, but it does increase the value of your home. Expect to recover between 50% and 100% of your investment.
- Replacing a roof isn’t cheap and it isn’t glamorous, but a new roof is a nice selling feature. Expect to get between 50% and 80% of the cost of a new roof back when you sell.
- A new, up to date heating system will save you money over time but it’s not cheap. A nice new furnace does make your home more attractive to buyers so you can expect to recoup between 50% and 80% of your outlay.
Renovating your house when you intend to stay in it for the long term is a bit different than renovating merely to increase its value. Spend your money wisely, and you can recover most if not all of your renovation costs when you sell.
By Patrick Murray Join me on Google+