How to get back what you spend on home improvements

Buying a new home is a significant investment, but the money trail doesn’t end there. Unless you’ve spent the time and money building a new home, chances are you won’t need to update your property. Turning your house into a home you can treasure for years to come sometimes requires interior and exterior remodeling.

There are some people who spend tens of thousands of dollars to remodel the exterior and interior of their properties. Upgrades can be made to your home whether you have bought a top to repair or have been living in your home for many years. The key is to make sure you’re making renovations that are likely to generate some kind of return on investment.

After seeing which remodeling projects allow homeowners to break even, we decided to put together a quick list. This way, you can make a more informed decision about any future remodeling work you decide to do on the exterior or interior of your home.

Focus on curb appeal

The exterior appearance of your house must be attractive, if it is not, it detracts from your community. All neighbors have a responsibility to keep their home and lawn in good shape, even if they don’t plan to sell their home one day.

Remodeling the exterior of your home is a good idea if your property has unsightly shutters, windows, doors, paint, front porch, and/or shingles. All of this needs to be redone and updated, to make it attractive to passers-by. And if you ever end up putting your house on the market, you can attract prospects much more easily.

Don’t mess up the original design

Some homeowners get carried away with interior remodeling and decide to transform the floor plan and layout to their liking. Sometimes it’s a real hassle to accomplish this, especially when you have to continually apply for permits and pay for inspections. The amount of money spent to get your renewals approved quickly outweighs what you get back. Instead, focus on improving your property’s current design.

Focus more on your needs, not resale value

If you plan to sell your home, consider the needs of the owner. It’s easy to get carried away with the different additions you can make to make the house more valuable. But you have to ask yourself if that addition is useful and functional or not. If not, then it’s pretty useless. When you’re planning your home remodel around what’s hot, then you risk making an upgrade that will one day go out of style. The economy also plays a role in what buyers look for in a new home. If your pockets are thinner, then buying a house with expensive marble and granite stone floors and walls will not cut it.

Consider working with an interior designer who knows how to design homes for functionality and style.

Some facts and figures from around the US

It’s good to know what to expect with certain types of interior and exterior remodeling projects. The return on investment you can get will largely depend on where you live and what area of ​​the house you’re upgrading. Here’s an overview of what others have recovered from across the country:

• Baltimore bathroom remodel for $9,400 recovered 182 percent of the cost at resale
• $17,928 San Diego bathroom remodel fetched $27,000 on resale
• The roof replacement costing $11,376 recovers an average of 96.3 percent at resale (71.1 percent in the Midwest).
• Every 1,000 square feet of additional space increases the sales price by 30 percent.
• Bathroom additions generate the most, with an average ROI of 86.4%