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Thinking about selling your home in the spring? Here's where you may get the most bang for your buck if you're remodeling your house before you stick that "for sale" sign in the front yard.
For every $1 you spend on improvements, you'll see 64.3 cents on the dollar on resale value, according to Remodeling. “Curb appeal” projects — changes to doors, windows, and siding — by and large generated higher returns on investment than work done inside the home.
Adam Nefferdorf of AROCON Roofing and Construction, LLC says if you're thinking of selling your home, the best bang for your buck? "Insulation is very good, you'll get about a 110 percent return," he noted. "It's going to cost about $1,500 to $3,000 dollars. The aesthetic projects aren't cheap."
Nefferdorf is right, according to Remodeling. Putting loose fill insulation in an attic is the only project that returns a higher value than its cost. It came in at 107.7 percent. Next up is steel door replacement, at 90.7 percent, followed by manufactured stone veneer at 89.4 percent.
Where people tend to overspend? "Areas like your kitchen and bathrooms," Nefferdorf said. People have such varied taste that if you do remodel your kitchen or bath, "It's similar to painting your car bright green."
Hot trends right now include sustainable roofing and solar roofing. "Any solar components where you can increase your energy production," Nefferdorf said.
Your roof, plumbing and air conditioning have to be in top-notch condition before you even think about adding flashy extras like a steam shower or heated floors, according to HGTV.
Results from a National Association of Realtors report reveal that the interior project predicted to yield the biggest bang for your buck is your floors. Refinishing hardwood floors will essentially pay for itself—an estimated 100 percent return on investment, according to Realtors.
Other renovations that rank high on ROI include insulation upgrades (95 percent recovered), new wood flooring (91 percent recovered) and converting a basement to a living area (69 percent recovered).
Also a good investment, according to HGTV? Landscaping.
Baby Boomers tend to spend more money when they're doing home improvements, Nefferdorf said, because they're doing everything at once — simplifying their living spaces so they can age in place versus millennials doing smaller projects. "They're typically not in a position, with debt from student loans and such," he said. They tend to tackle smaller projects, "basically piecing together fixer uppers, doing a bathroom and then doing another bathroom and then a kitchen replacement."
