When it comes to home improvements you might be thinking bigger is better. But data could say otherwise. Before you do any kind of renovation, do research first. If you don’t do enough research, what you thought was going to be an improvement to your home might not turn out to be an improvement at all.
People often make the mistake of doing home renovations based on what they perceive to be a good investment. But they don’t realize that their perceived value might not correspond with its market value. Thus, they end up making extreme home renovations that don’t even add any value to their homes and could be damaging their home’s value instead. This is why we’ll be discussing some of the best and worst home improvements based on their ROI.
Return on Investment is a way to measure the number of returns you get from a certain investment. Calculating your ROI is pretty easy to understand. To get your ROI you simply divide the profit you earned from an investment by its cost. Say you spent or invested $10,000 on a new home renovation. And when you sell your home that renovation added an extra $9,000 to the resale value to your home. If you divide $9000 to $10,000, you will recoup 90% of your costs. A good ROI would be anywhere around 70% to 100%. An ROI of 100% is possible but rare.
Stone Veneer
Instead of having the usual vinyl siding, why not replace it with a manufactured stone veneer. It not only has an ROI of 95.6%, but it also adds texture and more aesthetic value to your home. Making it a great home improvement to invest in.
Garage Door
A garage door replacement is one of the best home improvements to make because of its remarkably high ROI. It recovers 94.5% of your costs and can fluctuate even higher if you get the timing in the market right.
Minor Kitchen Remodel
Believe it or not, a mid-range minor kitchen remodel has a higher ROI than an upscale major kitchen remodel. A minor kitchen remodel can recoup 77.6% of your cost on investment. On the other hand, an upscale kitchen remodel will only recover 53.9% of your investment. It just goes to show that going bigger is not always better.
Window Replacement
When it comes to windows, a vinyl window replacement has a better ROI than wooden windows. A vinyl window replacement can recover 72.3% of your investment, while a wooden window will only recoup 68.9%. To be frank, the ROI between the two are not that far apart. And ROI’s tend to fluctuate depending on how the market is doing in a certain year. If you prefer a wooden window for its aesthetic appeal, go for it. If you’re mainly looking to renovate to boost your home’s value go for the vinyl. Vinyl is said to be more durable than the wooden window, but both tend to warp over time.
Deck
If you’re planning to build a deck for your home, a 16×20-foot wooden deck has an ROI of 72.1%. A deck built out of composite material on the other hand only has an ROI of 66.8%. In terms of maintenance, a composite deck is easier to maintain than a wooden deck. It also lasts twice as long as a wooden deck.
Finished Basement
A finished basement can have an ROI of up to 70%. To consider your basement finished it has to have drywall, flooring, and paint. The good thing about finishing your basement is that you can end up saving money on it if you choose to DIY some parts of the basement such as painting it yourself.
Roof
A roof replacement may be the home improvement with the highest returns. A new roof can recover 107% of your costs on the investment.
Not all major renovations are worth the investment. Most times going big doesn’t always mean better. It might even cost you more money than returns. But also, each person renovates their home for different reasons. If your goal is purely to get a higher resale value, pick home improvements with ROIs that are at least 70%. If your dream home addition doesn’t have an ROI higher than 70% but is something you want, then why not? If it makes you feel more at home, that’s all that matters. Also, take note that just because something has a higher ROI, doesn’t automatically mean that it’s better overall. It may get you a higher resale value, but is it really what you want?
