Home Improvements With the Highest ROI

When you are thinking about the various DIY projects that you want to take on around the house, it’s always important to think about the value that they could add to your home. Whether you are looking to sell your home in the next few years or not, return on investment (ROI) is always important to take into consideration.

While you might be remodeling or redecorating simply for personal preference, there will eventually come a time when you want to sell your home—even if you have no plans to right now—and you will be grateful that you took on projects that gave you a good return. So to help you out, here are some of the home improvements with the highest ROI.

Kitchen

When undertaking renovations, the home improvement with the highest ROI—and thus making itself consistently the safest investment—is the kitchen. Whether they are large or small scale improvements, they just about guaranteed to have not only a positive ROI, but a really big one. Most kitchen improvement projects have more than a 100 percent return on the original cost.

Bathroom

Along with the kitchen, a bathroom is another excellent improvement to make, as it has an equally high ROI. In a city like Baltimore for example, a bathroom remodel can return around 182 percent of its original cost. Bathrooms tend to be a good investment as they are a big draw for buyers and are less likely to be affected by constantly changing interior design trends.

Curb appeal

Curb appeal is another good home improvement for the simple reason that it is relatively cheap to clean up the front of a house, but the impact of curb appeal on potential buyers is one of the most significant of any feature. In fact, according to one survey, builders said that curb appeal was the most important factor for potential home buyers. This is because the house’s exterior is the first thing that a potential buyer will see upon pulling up to a house, and first impressions tend to stick. What is great about this is that improving curb appeal can be as cheap and simple as a paint job and trimming a few bushes. All for an excellent return.

Home theater

Sometimes it’s the bells and whistles that really make an impact. That’s why a  home theater can be one of the best home improvements to make. As technology starts to affect home design more and more, an increasing number of home buyers are looking for these kinds of rooms in order to see a property’s potential to be a dream home.

Cleaning and simple repairs

Though easily overlooked, it is sometimes just simple repairs and cleaning projects that can have the biggest return on investment. This is because it is something that makes a big difference aesthetically, but that is really cheap to take care of. You can do cleaning and repairs yourself, or if you have a home warranty, get those repairs taken care of for free.

And One to Avoid: A Pool

Though pools can be attractive on the surface, they often will detract from the value of the house, simply because a lot of buyers see them as an unnecessary hassle and something that will require a lot of maintenance and upkeep. Not to mention how expensive they are to install in the first place. If you want to install a pool for your own personal tastes, then go for it, but don’t do it if you are looking for a significant return on your investment.

Contributed by David Glenn.  David Glenn is a home improvement expert with nearly 30 years experience in the industry. Now retired, he enjoys writing about real estate tips, home maintenance and DIY home repair.