I’m invited to visit and price homes on a weekly basis. Sellers are always asking, “What can I do to get the highest price for my home?” I have uncovered five home improvement projects that yield the highest return on investment.
Most home improvement ROI have decreased in recent years. This is largely due to the strength of our local housing market. A recent report that measures the average cost of 21 popular remodeling projects and their average resale value one year later found that garage door replacement has the highest ROI at 98.3 percent, up from 13.3 percent. On the other hand, backyard patio jobs dropped the most, at 47.6 percent, down 7.3 percent.
The decrease in ROI can be attributed to the decrease of materials created by several natural disasters, including massive forest fires and killer hurricanes. Since then, building supplies and the price of skilled labor has increased, but that’s expected to change over the course of the year.
Home owners planning home improvement projects will begin to see a very minimal increase in the ROI by the end of 2018.
In recent weeks we have seen the housing inventory in Marysville increase. With the slight boost in available housing in our market, this will also play a factor in an owners decision to sell now, stay and remodel, or make improvements and sell.
Despite these events, some long-term trends continue. Remodeling is still far more cost effective than replacement, but according to leading real estate brokers replacing is still the way to go. This year, there’s a 20 point differences in ROI – 76.1 percent for replacement jobs vs. 56 percent for remodeling. Nationally, when it comes to renovation ROI, curb appeal still wins out. Here’s what I’ve found for my top five projects with the greatest ROI in the mid-range cost category.
1. Garage door replacement, 98.3 percent ROI
2. Manufactured stone veneer 97.1 percent
3. Entry door replacement 91.3 percent
4. Deck addition 82.8 percent
5. Minor kitchen remodel 81.1 percent
If you are planning on selling or just looking for the best way to get your money back consider my recommendations. For more tips and ideas consult your local real estate broker to save time and money.
Todd Fahlman writes a monthly real estate column for this newspaper.
