10 Home Updates That Quickly Increase Value

Some home updates are all about making your home more comfortable for you and your family. For example, putting in a swimming pool won’t increase your property value by as much as you might think, but it will give you and your family many summer afternoons of fun. However, other home improvements are just as much about increasing your property value as they are about making your house homier.

If you’re thinking of selling in the relatively near future, you need to spend your home update budget where it counts. These 10 home updates will net you the biggest increases in property value and the highest returns on your investment.

1. Landscaping

Landscaping can increase your home’s curb appeal, and that can translate into an increase in property value of 5.5 to 12.7 percent. Mature plantings will net you the biggest return on investment, so ideally, you’ll begin landscaping long before you put your home on the market. A cohesive landscaping plan will give you the best return on your investment, so even if you can’t afford to hire a professional landscaper, you should take the time to plan out your new landscape before you plant anything.

2. Kitchen Remodel

Even a minor kitchen remodel can return 80.5 percent of the money you spend when it’s time to sell. Refacing cabinets, installing new countertops and floors, redoing the lighting, then installing a new sink, fixtures and range will cost roughly $15,000. In most cases, people look for bigger and more updated kitchens from what they already have. A kitchen update might just be able to seal the deal for your property when it comes time. 

3. Bathroom Remodel

Bathroom remodels are another expensive update that buyers like to see already done – so much so that a minor bathroom remodel will actually increase your property value slightly. If you spend $20,420 to remodel a bathroom, you’ll get back about $13,717 at resale, on average. A complete bathroom redo might cost about $64,743, but you’ll recoup about 60 percent of that when you sell.

4. Adding a Deck

You’ll recoup about 75 percent of the cost of adding a 16x20 ft. wooden deck, although it varies somewhat depending on where you live – in the West, you’ll get back 100 percent of what you spent on a new deck, but in the South, where the air feels like hot soup, a deck addition will recoup about 83 percent of its cost.

5. Finishing a Basement

A finished basement will recoup an average of about 70 percent of its cost at sale. You may be able to recoup more than that in areas where basements are less common, such as in the West, but your ROI on a basement remodel will run closer to average in areas where basements are pretty standard. In the meantime, a finished basement can serve as a family rumpus room or a place to entertain.

6. Replacing Windows

Replacing your outdated windows with new ones is a good way to attract buyers and will get you back about 73 percent of what you spent at resale. If you live in a major city, you might even get back more than what you paid for your replacement windows when you sell. In desert climates, install low-e windows.

7. Replacing Your Garage Door

The average garage door replacement costs $3,611, and nets back $3,520, assuming it’s a two-car garage. A new garage door boosts curb appeal, making it one of the most valuable home updates in terms of ROI.

8. Exterior Door Replacement

Like new garage doors, new exterior doors boost your home’s curb appeal. 20-gauge steel doors also enhance your home’s security. The average exterior door replacement costs $1,826 and recoups $1,368.

9. New Siding

Your house can be the nicest one on the block in every other way, but if the siding is old and worn out, the whole house will look dilapidated. But installing new siding is like giving your home a facelift. For about $16,000, you can replace 1,250 feet of siding, and you’ll get back about 75 percent of that when you sell.

10. A Working Fireplace

If you have a working fireplace in your home, keep it. If you have a non-working fireplace in your home, it may be worth the cost of getting it in working order again. Each functioning fireplace in your home can add about 12 percent to its value.

Some home updates will improve your property value more than others. Before you start paying for home improvements, do your research and find out which ones will pay off the most when you put your home on the market. With careful planning and a little luck, you could get end up getting much more for your house than you’d hoped.

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