Not all home improvements are created equal. Whether you are looking to simply upgrade your home for yourself or upgrade it because you are planning on selling it, there are certain improvements that will give you a better bang for your buck or ROI (return on investment).
The number one home improvement you can make is to upgrade your bathroom. The average ROI for a minor bathroom remodel is 102%. This means that when you go to sell your home in the future, this upgrade will pay for itself plus an additional 2%. When you look at it that way you won't come out of pocket anything in the end, instead you’ll profit! Some things you can do for a minor bathroom upgrade are replacing the showerhead, getting new light fixtures, replacing the vanity, or getting new tiles put in.
If you have a very outdated bathroom and you would rather just gut the whole thing, then a full bathroom upgrade is still a great option. It won’t give you quite as good of a ROI but it is still one of the best upgrades you can do. A full bathroom upgrade will average a 93% ROI. Not as much as the minor upgrade but still not too shabby and it will look amazing when it’s complete. A full upgrade would include replacing everything in the bathroom with new and updated items.
Landscaping is another upgrade that you can do to your home that will give you a great bang for your buck. The average rate of return for a landscaping job is 100%. Landscaping is one of the simplest things you can do to make your home look amazing. When you go to sell your home in the future the landscaping and curb appeal is going to be the first thing that a potential homebuyer sees so it is important to have it looking nice and make a good first impression. The trick for landscaping is that you want it to look nice but you don’t want it to be too over the top. Most people don’t want to have to do a lot of work to maintain it so as far as the landscaping goes the simpler the better. Some things you can do for this are to trim all shrubs and bushes, plant some flowers, weed, mulch, keep grass nice and trimmed, install a walkway if you don't already have one, and many more!
Another upgrade you can do to your home that nets you a great ROI is to do a minor kitchen remodel. This is great because your kitchen will still be functional throughout the process. You don’t have to completely gut the whole thing. A minor kitchen remodel is also great because it's very easy to do. Some things that you can do would be to replace all of the appliances with new ones (fridge/freezer, oven, microwave, dishwasher). Another thing you could do to make things look more updated would be to simply put a fresh coat of paint on all of the cabinets. You’d be surprised how much of a difference a fresh coat of paint looks on some cabinets. Most people think that they have to completely replace and throw out their current cabinets if they want to get that more modern look but painting or even refinishing your current ones can transform your kitchen and give it that modern look all for a great cost. The average ROI for a minor kitchen upgrade is about 99%.
Before and after painting kitchen cabinets
Have an attic that you don’t use? Turning it into another bedroom or liveable space is also a great option. Not only will transforming your attic into a liveable space be great for your home's resale value, but it also gives you more functional space. Imagine how much bigger your home would feel if you had a whole other level of living space! Turning your attic into a bedroom can add up to 20% of your home's value. The average ROI for an attic conversion is right around 94%.
Best ROI Rankings:
Minor bathroom remodel - 102% ROI
Landscaping - 100% ROI
Minor kitchen remodel - 99% ROI
Attic conversion - 94%
Complete bathroom remodel - 93%
As you can see you don’t always have to do a ton to add value or make your home look amazing. Sometimes it's as simple as adding a fresh coat of paint to some cabinets or walls that can transform a room and make it look new. If you’re looking to upgrade your home in any aspect, feel free to reach out to me or one of my team members at The Dahlia Group as we have a plethora of people we can recommend that do amazing work in whatever area you are looking to improve!