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REALTORS® Reveal Which Home Projects Bring The Biggest Return To Homeowners

By HOM Editor
October 2017

Hard wood flooring in beautiful stylish living room area.

It’s not exactly a REALTOR® secret that upgrading your home usually means a bigger check at the closing table. But not every remodeling project translates into greater profit. And some homeowners have learned the hard way that the projects they’ve chosen to invest their time and money into don’t always bring the returns they banked on.

The 2017 Remodeling Impact Report from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) provides some good insight for homeowners who want to make sure that they’re investing wisely when choosing a remodeling project. “Realtors® understand which remodeling projects and home upgrades will bring the most value to homeowners, whether they are remodeling with the hope of impressing potential buyers, bringing in higher offers or gaining more equity in the home,” said NAR President William E. Brown.

Kitchen renovations/upgrades, bathroom renovations and new wood flooring have the biggest appeal to home shoppers.Click To Tweet

Owners who want to spruce up their interior before selling their home, would be wise to learn which projects are worth the expense. REALTORS® found that complete kitchen renovations, kitchen upgrades, bathroom renovations and new wood flooring generated the biggest appeal to home shoppers. The interior projects that ended up yielded the largest financial return though? Hardwood floor refinishing.

Buffing and staining your hardwood is well worth it as homeowners typically recover 100% of project costs upon resale. If you need to lay down brand new wood flooring you’ll lose a bit of return, recovering only 91% of the investment. Surprisingly, bathroom renovations or adding a new bathroom entirely, actually yielded the lowest return. Homeowners only recouped 50% of those project costs.

REALTORS® advise homeowners looking to add curb appeal to focus on their rooftop. New roofing recovers 109% of projects costs at resale – more than any other remodeling project covered in the report. Vinyl windows, garage doors and vinyl siding are also worthwhile upgrades but none give homeowners as much bang for the buck as roofing.

Brown shares that most REALTORS® suggest focusing on the exterior first when remodeling for profit. “A home’s exterior is its first impression to potential buyers, so any project that improves curb appeal will yield plenty of bang for the buck.”


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