Considering a home improvement project? It’s important to factor in more than just the resale value of your improvements. Weigh the joy factor, too. The enjoyment you’ll reap as a result of a remodel or addition should be just as important as recouping some of the cost of the renovation upon selling your home. After all, before you sell, you’ll live in your newly improved home for years. It’s important that the updates you make to your home make you and your family happy. Consider the joy!
Home Renovations That Deliver Joy
Looking for a little joy this year?
Consider doing some home upgrades. It turns out that some projects can deliver joy. That’s according to the 2015 Remodeling Impact Report by the National Association of REALTORS®.
The report provides not only estimates costs and the anticipated cost recovery for each project, but it also quantifies the joy – ranked between 1 and 10 – that certain home upgrades bring to homeowners.
Kitchen and bathroom projects seem like obvious sources of happiness. They are.
For example, the addition of a new bathroom got a solid 10 on the joy score. A complete kitchen renovation yielded a joy score of 9.8, and a kitchen upgrade got a joy score of 9.4. Hardwood flooring refinishing received a joy score of 9.6, with 40 percent of homeowners in the poll say the top reason for doing the project was to upgrade worn-out surfaces, finishes, and materials, and 23 percent saying the most important results were beauty and aesthetics.
Other less visible and seemingly mundane projects – steel doors, roofing, and insulation upgrades – also bring satisfaction in terms of energy efficiency gains, better functionality, and livability.
For instance, even though an insulation upgrade doesn’t add any aesthetic dazzle, it received a joy score of 8.7 among those polled. The top reason for doing the project was to improve energy efficiency.
Real estate practitioners also ranked projects’ appeal to buyers and the likely value to the home for resale.
| REALTOR rank of projects’ appeal to buyers (highest to lowest) |
| 1. Kitchen Upgrade |
| 2. Complete Kitchen Renovation |
| 3. Bathroom Renovation |
| 4. New Wood Flooring |
| 5. Add New Bathroom |
| 6. Hardwood Flooring Refinish |
| 7. New Master Suite/Owner’s Suite |
| 8. HVAC Replacement |
| 9. Basement Conversion to Living Area |
| 10. Closet Renovation |
| 11. Insulation Upgrade |
| 12. Attic Conversion to Living Area |
See the complete report at: http://www.realtor.org/reports/remodeling-impact.
Cost versus Value
Another resource for weighing the value of a home renovation is the just-released “Remodeling 2016 Cost vs. Value Report.”
The annual study looks at how much of your investment you can expect to recoup on renovation projects when you sell.
You can find national data and drill down to get statistics broken down by geographic area and by midrange and upscale projects.
Topping the list of midrange projects is fiberglass attic insulation, with an estimated 116.9% of the cost recouped when it comes time to sell.
Other top midrange projects associated with sprucing up the exterior included manufactured stone veneer, (92.9% of the cost recouped), garage door replacement (91.5%), and steel entry door replacement (91.1%).
Among interior midrange projects that delivered good returns at resale included minor kitchen remodels (83.1%), basement remodels (70.4%), and bathroom remodels (65.7%).
See the complete report at: http://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2016/trends
