Your home is likely the biggest investment you will ever make in life. It’s an exciting time when you can finally afford to buy a house. When you first buy a home, there will often be some outstanding issues that need correcting from the past homeowner or simply just the age of the home. You’ll find out rather quickly that the financial commitments continue to come in even after you’ve signed the papers and gotten the keys. Whether it’s a leaking roof, wasted space in the form of an unfinished basement, a seal broken in some windows, or a myriad of other possible issues, there will always be something in need of improvement.
With all that said though, taking on a home renovation can be an enjoyable experience. You are able to watch as your new space comes to life and improvements are made. However, renovations do cost money. So, it’s important when choosing which home renovation projects that you want to take on, that you consider which ones will offer you a return on investment in the form of increased property or resale value. Let’s take a look at the home renovations that add the most value to your home in 2024.
Bathroom Renovation
Bathrooms often get overlooked when it comes to updating, but they’re an important part of any home. Bathrooms that haven’t been renovated show their age. Old and dated lighting, impractical showers or tubs, Gaudi fixtures, linoleum (or worse, carpet) flooring, melamine counters. All these older design choices immediately giveaway the age and date the home.
Bathroom remodels usually begin at around $10,000. This covers the cost of replacing old features, such as the bathroom sink, shower, toilet, vanity, and tile flooring. However, it’s estimated that you can get up to 75% of your investment back. This allows you to reap the benefits of your hard work while also seeing some returns if you decide to sell.
Roof Replacement
The envelope of your home should take priority over all interior spaces or aesthetic and design choices when it comes to your home. It is what separated your home from the elements, and keeps the interior warm, dry, and safe.
If you have an old, worn, or leaking roof, it should be looked at and replaced by a professional promptly.
As soon as you begin to see your shingles cracking or curling, you know it’s time to look into a roof replacement. A leaking roof risks damage to the foundation, the attic, the interior walls, and virtually every part of the home. The damage from an old roof could easily cost you far more in repairs than it would cost you to have replaced it early.
Because of this, having a new roof on a home has a huge resale value. You will likely recover the entire budget for the roof replacement. If you are in a warmer area with plenty of average sunlight per year, the addition of solar panels can be an attractive feature for potential buys, as well as saving you money on electricity.
Deck Addition
It’s surprising to learn how important a deck or pergola can be to a prospective buyer. They’re often overlooked due to their location and often being “out of sight and out of mind”, but a deck, pergola, or other outdoor living space adds useable square footage to the home, making it feel larger. Areas outside make for great entertaining spaces for guests and family visits in the warmer months, or simply an added space for relaxation with a book on a sunny afternoon.
While decks are not always an inexpensive renovation, they are on the lower end of the cost spectrum for home improvement tasks, and you can often see up to an 80% return on your investment, depending on the size and scale of your project. Because of that, it’s definitely a project worth considering.
Kitchen Remodel
Kitchens have changed in function over the past several decades. It is no longer simply a place to cook food, separate from the rest of the home. It has become a gathering space for family and friends. As this trend becomes more prevalent, homes with older-style galley kitchens are becoming less and less desirable, with people opting for larger open concept kitchen designs. Kitchen renovations are definitely one of the renovations that require the most amount of work, the new kitchen cabinetry alone is quite the undertaking, and this is partly why homeowners often avoid renovating this space, choosing to remodel a more simple area of the home instead. The prospect of buying a home with an outdated kitchen and needing to renovate it is also quite unappealing to new home buyers given the amount of work that goes into a kitchen redesign. You can learn more here.
But by simply upgrading your cabinets whether it be with some kitchen cabinet refacing or painting (or with entirely new cabinets and boxes if you’re feeling ambitious), upgrading appliances and fixtures, and possibly some new laminate or tile flooring, you can see a huge difference in how prospective buyers view your home. The average kitchen remodel in 2024 typically costs between $20,000 and $50,000, but it is estimated that you can make up to 80% back on your investment.
Deciding to undertake a home renovation can be a big decision. It can be a large expense at times, but it is not without its benefits. When choosing what areas of your home to upgrade, keep in mind that beyond just the improved function, and aesthetic of the spaces you’re renovating, many renovations will have a decent, to at times substantial return on investment, and considering those factors should come in to play when making your decision. However, in the end, when it comes time to take on a home renovation project, the decision should come down to what will best benefit you and your family in the here and now, as well as in your immediate future. If a project adds value to your life, it will likely do the same for others down the road. For more information on home renovations that will yield a high return on your investment, we recommend checking out https://rebornrenovations.com for some of their professional insights on the subject.
