By Duane Duggan, an award-winning Realtor and author of the book “Realtor for Life.”
Every year when spring arrives, homeowners think of remodeling, repairing, and improving their homes. Reasons might include enhancing the sheer enjoyment of the home, practical updates, or getting the home ready to sell.
When a homeowner is remodeling a home for enjoyment or practical reasons, that’s one thing. Getting it ready to sell is another. If you are replacing single-pane windows because you can’t stand the drafts anymore, and you are planning on keeping the home for more than five years, the payback on the sale may not matter to you. However, if you’re prepping the home to sell, why spend money on specific home improvement projects if they don’t offer an immediate return? Sometimes the answer is that the project increases the attractiveness of the property to sell more quickly but may not return 100% of the amount invested. When you work with a REALTOR®, you have the benefit of your REALTOR®’s access to research from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). NAR produces the “Remodeling Impact Report,” which contains a wealth of information available to help you with these decisions.
The annual report on the impact of remodeling and its return on the investment is produced each year based on a survey of both REALTORS® and homeowners across the country. The report covers both internal and external home improvement projects. The results of the 2019 national survey are shown below:
Typical interior projects and their estimated return upon sale:
- Complete kitchen renovation: 59%
- Kitchen upgrade: 52%
- HVAC replacement: 85%
- New master suite: 50%
- Bathroom renovation: 57%
- Basement conversion to living area: 64%
- Add new bathroom: 50%
- New wood flooring: 106%
- Hardwood flooring refinishing: 100%
- Attic conversion to living area: 56%
Typical exterior projects and their estimated return upon sale:
- New roofing: 107%
- New vinyl windows: 71%
- New fiber-cement siding: 76%
- New wood windows: 57%
- New vinyl siding: 63%
- New garage door: 95%
- New steel front door: 75%
- New fiberglass front door: 74%
Remember, this is information based on a national report and all real estate is local. Be sure to consult your REALTOR® to determine which renovations are best for your neighborhood and can offer the best ROI for your remodeling dollar.